Accelerated resolution of laser-induced bruising with topical 20% arnica: a rater-blinded randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Dermatological procedures can result in disfiguring bruises that resolve slowly. OBJECTIVES: To assess the comparative utility of topical formulations in hastening the resolution of skin bruising. METHODS: Healthy volunteers, age range 21-65 years, were enrolled for this double (patient and rater) blinded randomized controlled trial. For each subject, four standard bruises of 7 mm diameter each were created on the bilateral upper inner arms, 5 cm apart, two per arm, using a 595-nm pulsed-dye laser (Vbeam; Candela Corp., Wayland, MA, U.S.A.). Randomization was used to assign one topical agent (5% vitamin K, 1% vitamin K and 0·3% retinol, 20% arnica, or white petrolatum) to exactly one bruise per subject, which was then treated under occlusion twice a day for 2 weeks. A dermatologist not involved with subject assignment rated bruises [visual analogue scale, 0 (least)-10 (most)] in standardized photographs immediately after bruise creation and at week 2. RESULTS: There was significant difference in the change in the rater bruising score associated with the four treatments (anova, P=0·016). Pairwise comparisons indicated that the mean improvement associated with 20% arnica was greater than with white petrolatum (P=0·003), and the improvement with arnica was greater than with the mixture of 1% vitamin K and 0·3% retinol (P=0·01). Improvement with arnica was not greater than with 5% vitamin K cream, however. CONCLUSIONS: Topical 20% arnica ointment may be able to reduce bruising more effectively than placebo and more effectively than low-concentration vitamin K formulations, such as 1% vitamin K with 0·3% retinol.

Physicochemical properties, and antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of garlic and onion powder in fresh pork belly and loin during refrigerated storage.

Pork loin and belly cuts were pumped to 110% of their original weight with solutions containing 5% of various ingredients (sodium ascorbate, garlic, and onion powder), and evaluated the physicochemical properties, and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities during refrigerated storage at 8 degrees C. The addition of garlic and onion powder tended to increase redness (a) and yellowness (b) in both the belly lean and loin with the exception of a few cases. Free fatty acid values in both pork belly and loin cuts were reduced with the addition of these ingredients, as compared to the control. Significant differences in peroxide values were observed in sodium ascorbate and garlic-injected belly, and in sodium ascorbate and onion-injected loin, as compared to the control. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance values in the pork belly with garlic or onion powder were significantly lower than in the belly without these ingredients or with sodium ascorbate (P < 0.05). Total plate counts were lower in both the belly and loin containing garlic and onion powder, as compared to the control. In both the belly and loin cuts, the content of oxidative products (volatile compounds) was reduced with the addition of garlic and onion powder, particularly the aldehydes (hexanal). Overall, garlic and onion in enhanced meats showed an antioxidant activity as effective as that of sodium ascorbate and also an antimicrobial effect to inhibit the growth of total bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae.

Abnormal thalamic volume in treatment-naïve boys with Tourette syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Thalamic abnormality has been implicated in the pathophysiology of Tourette's syndrome (TS). We examined the presence of aberrant thalamic volume from the treatment-naïve boys with TS using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHOD: Volumetric MRI was performed on 18 treatment-naïve boys with TS, aged 7-14 years, and 16 healthy comparison subjects. The anatomical boundaries were then manually parcellated to measure the thalamic volume. RESULTS: Tourette's syndrome subjects had a significantly larger left thalamus in comparison with those of healthy subjects. On the contrary, no group difference was observed from the right thalamic volume. TS subjects also showed a significant reduction in rightward asymmetry in thalamic volume compared with the healthy subjects. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide new evidence of abnormal thalamic volume in pediatric TS.

Human brain mapping of auditory imagery: event-related functional MRI study.

We used event-related fMRI methodology to investigate human brain activity during auditory imagery. A series of susceptibility-weighted MR images covering the whole brain were acquired to obtain blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes associated with the imagery event of hearing simple monotone. Group analysis across the 12 right-handed subjects revealed activations in the medial and inferior frontal gyri, precuneus, middle frontal gyri, superior temporal gyri, and anterior cingulate gyri. Bilateral primary and secondary auditory areas in the superior temporal gyri also exhibited the event-related MR signal changes. The proposed method allowed for the analysis of brain areas responsive to the event of auditory imagery while our results suggest that auditory imagery and actual audition share common neural substrates.

A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of auditory mismatch in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has noted functional and structural temporal lobe abnormalities in schizophrenia that relate to symptoms such as auditory hallucinations and thought disorder. The goal of the study was to determine whether the functional abnormalities are present in schizophrenia at early stages of auditory processing. METHOD: Functional magnetic resonance imaging activity was examined during the presentation of the mismatch stimuli, which are deviant tones embedded in a series of standard tones. The mismatch stimuli are used to elicit the mismatch negativity, an early auditory event-related potential. Ten patients with schizophrenia and 10 comparison subjects were presented the mismatch stimuli condition and a control condition in which only one tone was presented repeatedly. RESULTS: The superior temporal gyrus showed the most prevalent and consistent activation. The superior temporal gyrus showed less activation in the schizophrenic subjects than in the comparison subjects only during the mismatch stimuli condition. CONCLUSIONS: This result is consistent with those of mismatch negativity event-related potential studies and suggests that early auditory processing is abnormal in chronic schizophrenia.

Glutamine supplementation maintains intramuscular glutamine concentrations and normalizes lymphocyte function in infected early weaned pigs.

Numerous studies in humans and rats have shown that glutamine supplementation during stressful conditions has favorable outcomes. However, the requirements for glutamine during weaning are unknown. Thus, the effects of glutamine supplementation in healthy and infected weaned pigs were investigated. At 21 d of age, pigs were weaned to an elemental diet supplemented with glutamine (+Gln) or an isonitrogenous diet containing nonessential amino acids (-Gln). At 26 d of age, pigs were intraperitoneally injected with Escherichia coli (+Ecoli) or buffered saline (-Ecoli) and killed at 28 d of age. Infection decreased (P < 0.05) plasma and intramuscular glutamine concentrations, but infected pigs that received +Gln diets had higher intramuscular glutamine levels than those that received -Gln diets. Infected pigs had elevated (P < 0.05) total leukocyte counts, and blood lymphocyte responses ([3H]-thymidine incorporation) to a mixture of phorbol myristate acetate and ionomycin were reduced. White blood cell counts were greater (P < 0.05) in +Gln than -Gln pigs. The peak responses to concanavalin A (Con A) by lymphocytes of +Ecoli+Gln pigs were greater (P < 0.05) than those of +Ecoli-Gln pigs and not different than those of noninfected pigs. Hence, glutamine supplementation maintained muscular glutamine concentrations and normalized lymphocyte function in infected pigs.