Split-face comparative trial of 785-nm picosecond neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser and precision cryotherapy combination treatment for facial benign pigmented lesions.

Cryotherapy (or cryosurgery) has been performed to treat various skin lesions in the field of dermatology; however, to the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated its efficacy and safety for benign pigmented lesions. Therefore, we conducted a split-face study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cryotherapy in the treatment of benign pigmented lesions. A total of five subjects were included. Picosecond laser therapy was performed to treat the whole face and cryotherapy for half the face. Four weeks after completing the treatment sessions, patients showed more clinical improvement on the laser and cryotherapy combination treatment side than on the laser-only side, with no adverse events. Our study demonstrated that cryotherapy is a potential adjuvant therapeutic modality for benign pigmented lesions.

Antifungal and Anticancer Activities of a Protein from the Mushroom Cordyceps militaris.

The mushroom Cordyceps militaris has been used for a long time in eastern Asia as a nutraceutical and in traditional Chinese medicine as a treatment for cancer patients. In the present study, a cytotoxic antifungal protease was purified from the dried fruiting bodies of C. militaris using anion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Sepharose column. Electrophoretic analyses indicated that this protein, designated C. militaris protein (CMP), has a molecular mass of 12 kDa and a pI of 5.1. The optimum conditions for protease activity were a temperature of 37 and pH of 7.0~9.0. The enzyme activity was specifically inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. Amino acid composition of intact CMP and amino acid sequences of three major peptides from a tryptic digest of CMP were determined. CMP exerted strong antifungal effect against the growth of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum, and exhibited cytotoxicity against human breast and bladder cancer cells. These results indicate that C. militaris represents a source of a novel protein that might be applied in diverse biological and medicinal applications.