Minimal Erythema Dose: Correlation with Fitzpatrick Skin Type and Concordance Between Methods of Erythema Assessment in a Patient Sample in Colombia. / Dosis eritematosa mínima: correlación con el fototipo y método de medición en una muestra de población colombiana.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The minimal erythema dose (MED), an essential measurement in studies of skin photosensitivity, requires establishing MED values for specific populations, given genetic variation. Different ways to assess erythema are also relevant. We aimed to determine MED values in a sample of Colombian patients and correlations between MED and Fitzpatrick skin type. We also studied concordance correlation between MEDs and two alternative ways to assess erythema. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 113 individuals in Bogotá, Colombia. We used a solar simulator to measure UV-A radiation and combined UV-A and UV-B (UVA+UVB) radiation, o se podría suprimir este término porque UVA y UVB son términos conocidos for MED calculation. Narrowband UV-B (NBUVB) radiation was measured in a phototherapy cabin. Erythema was assessed visually and with a Mexameter MX 18 device. RESULTS: The median MEDs of UVA+UVB radiation were 22mJ/cm2 for Fitzpatrick skin typesI andII, and 33 and 43mJ/cm2, respectively, for typesIII andIV. The MEDs of UV-A radiation were 22, 42, 86, and 100J/cm2 for typesI, II, III, andIV, respectively. The MEDs of NBUVB light were 390, 550, 770, and 885mJ/cm2 for the 4 skin types. The correlation between MEDs and skin types ranged from 0.5 to 0.69. Lin's concordance correlation coefficients between visual and Mexameter assessments of erythema were greater than 0.8 in all cases. CONCLUSION: This study allowed us to understand MED values for UV-A, UVA+UVB, and NBUVB according to different skin types in the Colombian population. Concordance correlation coefficients between the different methods of erythema assessment were very good. Correlations between MEDs and skin types were moderate to good.

Placebo-controlled trial of nimodipine in the treatment of acute ischemic cerebral infarction.

Nimodipine is a 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative that shows a preferential cerebrovascular activity in experimental animals. Clinical data suggest that nimodipine has a beneficial effect on the neurologic outcome of patients suffering an acute ischemic stroke. Our double-blind placebo-controlled multicenter trial was designed to assess the effects of oral nimodipine on the mortality rate and neurologic outcome of patients with an acute ischemic stroke. One hundred sixty-four patients were randomly allocated to receive either nimodipine tablets (30 mg q.i.d.) or identical placebo tablets for 28 days. Treatment was always started less than or equal to 48 hours after the acute event. The Mathew Scale, slightly modified by Gelmers et al, was used for neurologic assessment. Mortality rate and neurologic outcome after 28 days were used as evaluation criteria. We considered 123 patients to be valid for the analysis of efficacy. Mortality rates did not differ significantly between groups. Neurologic outcome after 28 days of therapy did not differ between groups. However, when only those patients most likely to benefit from any intervention (Mathew Scale sum score of less than or equal to 65 at baseline) were analyzed separately in post hoc-defined subgroups, the nimodipine-treated subgroups showed a significantly better neurologic outcome. This result suggests that some patients with acute ischemic stroke will benefit from treatment with nimodipine tablets.

Folate absorption in alcoholic pigs: in vivo intestinal perfusion studies.

To determine if impaired intestinal absorption contributes to the folate deficiency observed in chronic alcoholics, we assessed in vivo folate absorption in Hanford mini-pigs fed ethanol with an adequate diet. Sixteen minipigs were pair-fed diets supplemented with ethanol or sucrose to 60% of total calories for 11 mo. In the ethanol-fed pigs peak blood alcohol concentrations averaged 28 mmol/L, serum alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase activities were elevated, and liver histology showed a centrilobular distribution of succinate dehydrogenase. Tissue folate concentrations were comparable in both groups. The jejunal uptake of folic acid, measured by intestinal perfusion, was similar in both groups of animals and was not affected by acute exposure to 445 mmol/L ethanol. The in vivo hydrolysis of polyglutamyl folate was reduced by 35% in one ethanol-fed minipig. Decreased hydrolysis of polyglutamyl folate may represent an early step in the development of folate deficiency in chronic alcoholics.