Co-existence of psoriasis and melanoma in a large urban academic centre population: a cross-sectional retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis has been linked to increased malignancy risk, particularly lympho-haematopoietic and non-melanoma skin cancers; however, its association with cutaneous melanoma remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine if there is an association between melanoma and psoriasis in a large, urban academic population through an electronic medical record database. METHODS: We searched our institution's electronic medical record database (EDW-Electronic Data Warehouse) from 1/2001 to 11/2013. Subjects were identified by ICD-9 codes. Melanoma diagnosis was included only if documented at least 1 month after the psoriasis diagnosis was documented. Odds ratio (OR) was obtained for association between cutaneous melanoma and psoriasis. The OR was then adjusted for phototherapy and age. To minimize detection bias, we also obtained the OR for association between cutaneous melanoma and atopic dermatitis. RESULTS: We identified 10 947 patients with psoriasis, 64 of whom had a subsequent diagnosis of cutaneous melanoma. We detected a significant association between melanoma and psoriasis (OR = 1.77; 95%CI 1.38-2.26; P < 0.0001; total n = 1 525 252). After adjusting for phototherapy and age, a statistically significant association between melanoma and psoriasis remained detectable (OR = 1.9; 95%CI 1.55-2.55; P < 0.0001 and OR = 1.64; 95%CI 1.17-2.26; P = 0.003 respectively). The OR for melanoma with atopic dermatitis in the same patient database showed a statistically significant inverse association between the two diseases (OR = 0.35; 95%CI 0.16-0.73; P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Our findings show a statistically significant association between psoriasis and melanoma. After adjusting the OR for phototherapy and age, a statistically significant association remained. Further investigations exploring these associations are warranted in order to establish the relative risk for melanoma in psoriasis patients.

Neural cell adhesion molecules, CaM kinase II and long-term memory in the chick.

The intermediate and medial hyperstriatum ventrale (IMHV) of the chick brain is a site of recognition memory for filial imprinting. Previous results have demonstrated learning-related changes in the amounts of the three major isoforms of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) in the left IMHV. The increases were present 24 h after training. The present study enquired whether the increases persisted and were present 48 h after training. The brain regions analysed were the left and right IMHV and the left and right hyperstriatum accessorium (HA), a visual projection area. The alpha-subunit of calcium/calmodulin protein kinase II (CaMKIIalpha) was also assayed. There were significant correlations between a measure of the strength of learning and the amount of NCAM 180 in the right IMHV (r = +0.65; p = 0.012) but not in the left, and in the left HA (r = -0.61; p = 0.02), but not in the right. There were no learning-related changes for CaMKIIalpha. We conclude that in IMHV the effects of imprinting on NCAM 180 are expressed mainly in the left IMHV 24 h after training, but 48 h after training are expressed mainly in the right IMHV.

Anticonvulsant activities of myo-inositol and scyllo-inositol on pentylenetetrazol induced seizures.

Myo-inositol (MI) and its isomers are used for the treatment of various neuropathological conditions. The purpose of the present research was to study anticonvulsant properties of MI and scyllo-inositol (SCI) on pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) induced seizures in rats. Half an hour after treatment with MI (30 mg/kg) or SCI (5 mg/kg) seizures were induced in Wistar rats with PTZ (60 mg/kg). Control animals were treated either by normal saline or mannitol (control polyol of the same molecular weight, 30 mg/kg), given at the same time interval before PTZ injection, as MI/SCI groups. The anticonvulsant effects of MI/SCI treatment were assessed by the latent period (the time from PTZ-injection to the onset of first seizures), and the duration and severity (score) of seizures. The mortality rate was also assessed. Both MI and SCI treatment significantly reduced the seizure score, seizure duration and increased the latent period. These data suggest for strong potential of MI and SCI as the agents of antiepileptic therapy.

Effect of oleamide on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in rats.

Oleamide exhibits antiepileptic activity and significantly decreases the degree of pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures.