Repigmentation of poliosis after epithelial grafting for vitiligo.

BACKGROUND: Vitiligo is a disease of color loss from skin and possibly also from hair. The presence of white hair follicles is known to be a bad prognostic sign. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the possibility of repigmentation of white hair follicles after epithelial grafting. METHODS: Patients with recalcitrant vitiligo with loss of hair pigment were treated using Chinese cupping blisters or ultrathin Thiersch grafting after de-epithelialization of vitiliginous patches by dermabrasion. Phototherapy was used afterward to enhance success. RESULTS: Repigmentation of the skin surface was obtained with as little as 1 to 2 months of phototherapy, as expected, and further follow-up of cases revealed the re-coloring of hair follicles after 4 to 11 months. CONCLUSION: Re-coloring of poliosis with vitiligo is possible but was unexpected because of the difference in mechanism and signaling required between hair bulb melanization and the surface skin. One likely mechanism to explain this change is that melanocyte stem cells are stimulated and migrate to supply hair bulbs with new mature melanocytes. Epithelial grafting of vitiligo with poliosis in hairy areas should be a treatment of choice when white hair tufts cause cosmetic disfigurement.

Chinese cupping: a simple method to obtain epithelial grafts for the management of resistant localized vitiligo.

BACKGROUND: The introduction of surgical techniques provided a major development in the management of resistant vitiligo and replaced other conventional unsuccessful therapies. Most of these procedures require special devices and experience that prevent many dermatologists from utilizing them. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work is to evaluate the introduction of a new simple technique that can be used in epithelial grafting for recalcitrant patches of vitiligo. METHODS: Twenty vitiligo patients, nonresponding to classic phototherapy, were candidates in this study. A simple Chinese cupping device was used to induce blisters on the inner aspect of the thighs of the patients and the resulting blister roofs were used for grafting on dermabraded vitiliginous patches. The patients were followed up for 1 year. RESULTS: Blister roofs induced by Chinese cupping were able to repigment vitiliginous patches in 80% of the patients with admirable coloring match, and the donor areas did not show any cosmetic disfigurement at the end of the study. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, Chinese cupping is a simple and easy-to-use method to obtain epithelial grafts for vitiligo management. The author has indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.

[Structural and functional reorganization in epithelia of soft palate and bronchi cultured in vivo using F.M. Lazarenko method: the role of neuroendocrine factors]. / Strukturno-funktsional'naia reorganizatsiia épiteliev miagkogo neba i bronkhov v usloviiakh ikh kul'tivirovaniia v organizme po metodu F.M. Lazarenko: rol' neiroéndokrinnykh faktorov.

To define the range of histio- and organotypical capacities of rat soft palatine and bronchial epithelia, and to elucidate the nature of the effect of neuroendocrine factors of hypothalamic paraventricular factors upon them, the experiments were conducted by co-culturing mucosal fragments of oral and pharyngeal surfaces of soft palate and bronchi with the paraventricular nuclei-containing hypothalamic fragments using in vivo F.M. Lazarenko method. Soft palatine and bronchial epithelia were found to have similar histoblastic properties. The stimulating effect of hypothalamic factors, released paraventricular nuclei, on the processes of regeneration of epithelia and of connective tissue was noted.

[The effect of hypothalamic factors on the proliferation and cell differentiation of adenohypophyseal glandular epithelium implanted into the anterior chamber of the eye]. / Vliianie gipotalamicheskikh faktorov na proliferatsiiu i tsitodifferentsirovku zhelezistogo épiteliia adenogipofiza pri implantatsii v peredniuiu kameru glaza.

The purpose was to determine the effect of a complex of factors of large cell (supraoptic, paraventricular) or small cell (arcuate) hypothalamic nuclei on adenohypophyseal proliferation and cytodifferentiation, manifested in body tissue culture. Experiments were staged on 80 hypophysectomized random bred albino male rats with a body mass of 200-230 g. The evaluation of cell types of adenocytes was performed at stages of implantation every 12h-26 days with the help of light optic, electron microscopic, histoautoradiographic, immunohistochemical and radioimmunoassay methods. Supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei were shown to provide for the stimulation of adenocytic proliferation. The factors of paraventricular nuclei enhanced secretion in somato-, mammo-, thyro- and corticotropocytes and created conditions for their secondary cytodifferentiation.