Comparison of Th1 and Th17 Inflammatory Cytokine Profiles Between Chronic Plaque and Acute Guttate Psoriasis.

Background: The phenotypic heterogeneity of psoriasis is suspected to reflect differences in its pathogenesis, but not yet completely elucidated. Studies of the Th1 and Th17 cytokines associated with different phenotypes of psoriasis have yielded inconsistent results. Objective: To investigate the tissue expression levels of Th1 and Th17 cytokines among patients with chronic plaque psoriasis, acute guttate psoriasis, and healthy control. Methods: A total of 20 patients with psoriasis (10 with chronic plaque type and 10 with acute guttate type) and 5 healthy controls were enrolled. The tissue mRNA and protein levels of following cytokines were measured: interleukin (IL)-12, IL-2, interferon (IFN)-γ, IL-23, IL-17A, and IL-22. Results: The tissue mRNA levels of IL-12, IFN-γ, IL-23, IL-17A, IL-22 and the protein levels of IL-12, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-17A, IL-22 were significantly increased in the psoriasis patients compared with the healthy controls. In comparisons of the subtypes, the tissue mRNA level of IFN-γ was increased in acute guttate psoriasis, whereas the protein levels of IL-12 and IL-17A were significantly increased in chronic plaque psoriasis. The cytokine ratios of IL-17A/IL-2 and IL-22/IL-2 were significantly higher in chronic plaque psoriasis than in acute guttate psoriasis. Conclusion: We confirmed that the tissue levels of Th1 and Th17 cytokines were increased in psoriasis patients compared with healthy controls. The increased IFN-γ mRNA level in acute guttate psoriasis and increased IL-12 and IL-17A protein levels in chronic plaque psoriasis suggest that an imbalance between Th1 and Th17 cytokines may play a role in the phenotypic transition of psoriasis.

Recurrent Cellulitis Associated with Acupuncture with Migratory Gold Threads.

In Asian countries, acupuncture with gold threads has been widely used in the treatment of pain. However, several reports have suggested that the implanted gold threads can become fragmented and migrate to other parts of the body, damaging surrounding tissues. A 75-year-old female presented with diffuse erythematous edema with multiple vesicles on the right lower leg for 3 days. She had previously suffered from cellulitis on the same region twice for the last 1 year. Her past medical history included acupuncture with gold threads on the back due to lumbar herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP) about 10 years ago. Histopathological examination demonstrated marked subepithelial edema and diffuse perivascular infiltrate of inflammatory cells in the dermis. Simple radiography of the leg revealed numerous radiodense threads in the soft tissue. Since the patient did not receive acupuncture on any other sites except on the back, we hypothesized that the gold threads injected on the back may have migrated through the vessels to the leg. These metal fragments can cause inflammatory reaction and make the tissues more susceptible to secondary infections. The lesion gradually improved after treatment with systemic steroid and antibiotics for 1 week.

Determining the efficacy of 27 commercially available disinfectants against human noroviruses.

BACKGROUND: Recently, monoclonal-antibody-conjugated immunomagnetic separation (IMS) procedure combined with quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) has been used for quantifying non-cultivated human noroviruses (HuNoVs). METHODS: We examined the efficacy of 27 commercially available disinfectants and a prototype against GII.4 strain HuNoV through the IMS/qRT-PCR assay. RESULTS: The average log reduction in viral titer in vitro varied among the disinfectants. The prototype was the most effective with an average log reduction of 6.86 log. CONCLUSIONS: The IMS/RT-qPCR assay is an effective method to evaluate the activities of disinfectants against GII.4 HuNoV in vitro. Further work is needed to enhance the virucidal activity of the prototype disinfectant against more resistant HuNoV strains.

A Case of Eccrine Poromatosis in a Patient with a History of Chemotherapy Due to Stomach Cancer.

An eccrine poroma (EP) is a benign adnexal tumor that typically presents as a single lesion. Eccrine poromatosis defined as multiple EPs is an uncommon presentation. A 54-year-old male had undergone operation for stomach cancer 10 years prior and insisted that he had also taken adjuvant chemotherapy. The patient presented with six reddish papules and nodules scattered on the trunk and extremities for 3 years. The histopathologic findings from all six lesions were consistent with EP. No local recurrence was observed after complete removal through punch biopsies. We report a rare case of eccrine poromatosis in the patient with gastric cancer, suspected of being caused by chemotherapy.

Skin seeding technique with 0.5-mm micropunch grafting for vitiligo irrespective of the epidermal-dermal orientation: Animal and clinical studies.

Micropunch grafting is the simplest surgical intervention for refractory vitiligo but is tedious and time-consuming. Therefore, we aimed to verify the efficacy and safety of dermal orientation grafting using motorized 0.5-mm micropunch grafting for vitiligo. In a preliminary animal study, 12-week-old rats were used to observe the healing process after the transplantation of dermal orientation grafts with various punch sizes. In a clinical trial, a total of 100 vitiligo patches in 50 patients with stable vitiligo were randomly allocated to motorized 0.5-mm micropunch grafting in epidermal and dermal orientations, respectively. The grafts were implanted at intervals of 5 mm at the recipient site. Treatment success was defined as greater than 75% repigmentation. In the animal study, all grafts were shown to be well integrated into the recipient site within 3 weeks. In the clinical trial, treatment success was achieved in 72% and 76% of the epidermal and dermal orientation groups, respectively; a cobblestone appearance was observed in 4% and 2%, respectively. In conclusion, we demonstrated that this new grafting method irrespective of epidermal-dermal orientation using motorized 0.5-mm micropunch grafting was effective and safe. We have named this the "skin seeding technique" and it differs from traditional punch grafting in that it can be performed regardless of the graft orientation.

Two-Step Growth of Epitaxial InP Layers by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition.

In this study, we report experimental results on the epitaxial growth of InP layer on GaAs (001) substrate by using MOCVD. We have systematically controlled nucleation steps in order to obtain InP epitaxial layers with high crystallinity quality. The controlling parameters were flow ratio of V/IIIsources and thicknesses of nucleation layer for nucleation steps. We successfully improved the surface roughness and crystallinity of IIP epitaxial layers on GaAs substrates.