Regular sweating activities for the treatment of cholinergic urticaria with or without acquired idiopathic generalized anhidrosis.

Cholinergic urticaria (CholU) decreases affected individuals' quality of life because they must avoid stimuli including exercise and hot bathing. Although case reports have indicated that regular sweating activities are effective for CholU with hypohidrosis, little evidence is available. This retrospective medical record review examined CholU patients who received any form of treatment at our hospital. Twenty-seven cases (78% men; median age 22 years, range 12-70 years) were analyzed. Fourteen (52%) patients had acquired idiopathic generalized anhidrosis (AIGA). Among the 12 patients receiving sweating therapy (4 with, 8 without AIGA), improvement of symptoms was confirmed in 11 (92%; sweating therapy alone: n = 5, with H1 blocker: n = 5, with steroid pulse: n = 1) including 8 (67%) showing complete response (CR). In this sweating-therapy group, CR was achieved by six of the eight (75%) patients without AIGA and two of the four (50%) patients with AIGA. Among the 15 patients without sweating therapy, symptom improvement was observed in 9 (60%; steroid pulse: n = 7, H1 blocker: n = 2) including 1 (7%) achieving CR. Sweating therapy was safely undertaken except in one case in which the patient showed angioedema and anaphylaxis. Regular sweating activities could be a potential therapeutic option for CholU patients.

Circulating melanoma cells as a potential biomarker to detect metastasis and evaluate prognosis.

TNM staging is mainly used to evaluate the prognosis of melanoma patients. Serum biomarkers such as 5-S-cysteinyldopa (5-S-CD) have occasionally been used but most do not respond until the tumour burden becomes high. Recently, circulating melanoma cells (CMC) have been reported as a possible new biomarker to detect metastasis, monitor treatment response and predict prognosis. The object of this exploratory study was to evaluate the efficacy of CMC to detect metastasis and predict prognosis by cross-sectional and prospective observational analyses, respectively. Altogether 15 patients with stages II-IV melanoma were enrolled and CMC were enumerated by CellSearch system with cut-off values of two cells/7.5 mL. Serum 5-S-CD and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were also measured. The sensitivity of CMC and 5-S-CD for the detection of metastasis was 33 and 50%, respectively. The combination of CMC and 5-S-CD showed a sensitivity of 67%, the best performance among CMC, 5-S-CD, LDH and any combination of two of the markers. Additionally, a 30-month prospective observation showed that CMC could segregate patients with poorer prognosis. The median survival time for the patients with <2 CMC and those with ≥2 CMC was 19.5 and 4.5 months, respectively. The limitation of this study is the small sample size. These preliminary results indicate CMC may complement the efficacy of 5-S-CD to detect metastasis and can be a prognostic marker. Although there is still room for improvement to maximise the sensitivity, the CellSearch system is reproducible, standardised and suitable for multi-centre studies.

Efficacy and safety of switching to bilastine, an H1-antihistamine, in patients with refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria (H1-SWITCH): a multicenter, open-label, randomized, parallel-group comparative study.

Background: For treating patients with refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) resistant to standard doses of 2nd generation H1-antihistamines (H1AH) the International and Japanese guidelines recommend increasing H1AH dose. The latter also recommends switching to a different H1AH. This study explored if the efficacy of the standard dose of bilastine 20 mg is non-inferior to that of double-dose of H1AH in patients with refractory CSU. Methods: This phase IV, multicenter, open-label, randomized, parallel-group trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of switching treatment to bilastine compared to treatment with a 2-fold dose of H1AH in patients with CSU refractory to standard dose H1AH. The primary endpoint was the mean total symptom score (TSS) at Day 5-7 after the start of administration. Results: Treatment efficacy and safety were evaluated in 128 patients (bilastine, n=64; 2-fold dose of H1AH, n=64). The mean TSS at Day 5-7 after the start of administration was smaller than the non-inferiority margin of 0.8, demonstrating non-inferiority of the bilastine switching group to the double-dose H1AH group (0.17 (95% CI -0.32, 0.67)). No difference in Japanese version of Epworth Sleepiness Scale (JESS), DLQI, and urticaria activity score over 7 consecutive days (UAS7) was observed between the two groups. There were no serious adverse events in either group. H1AH-related adverse events occurred in 5 subjects (8 cases) and 2 subjects (3 cases) in the double-dose H1AH and bilastine groups, respectively. Conclusions: Switching treatment to bilastine demonstrated non-inferiority to a double-dose of H1AH in terms of efficacy in patients with CSU refractory to standard dose H1AH with a favorable safety profile. Clinical trial registration: https://jrct.niph.go.jp/latest-detail/jRCTs051180105, identifier jRCTs051180105.

Imiquimod suppresses propagation of herpes simplex virus 1 by upregulation of cystatin A via the adenosine receptor A1 pathway.

Imiquimod is recognized as an agonist for Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) in immunocompetent cells. TLR7, as well as TLR3 and TLR8, triggers the immune responses, such as the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and proinflammatory cytokines via recognition of viral nucleic acids in the infected cells. In this study, we proposed that imiquimod has an IFN-independent antiviral effect in nonimmune cells. Imiquimod, but not resiquimod, suppressed replication of human herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) in FL cells. We analyzed alternation of gene expression by treatment with imiquimod using microarray analysis. Neither type I IFNs, nor TLRs, nor IFN-inducible antiviral genes were induced in imiquimod-treated FL cells. Cystatin A, a host cysteine protease inhibitor, was strongly upregulated by imiquimod and took a major part in the anti-HSV-1 activity deduced by the suppression experiment using its small interfering RNA. Upregulation of cystatin A was suggested to be mediated by antagonizing adenosine receptor A(1) and activating the protein kinase A pathway. Imiquimod, but not resiquimod, was shown to interact with adenosine receptor A(1). Imiquimod-induced anti-HSV-1 activity was observed in other cells, such as HeLa, SiHa, and CaSki cells, in a manner consistent with the cystatin A induction by imiquimod. These results indicated that imiquimod acted as an antagonist for adenosine receptor A(1) and induced a host antiviral protein, cystatin A. The process occurred independently of TLR7 and type I IFNs.

Prognostic Factors and Long-Term Efficacy of Tonsillectomy in 17 Patients with Pustulotic Arthro-Osteitis.

In this case study, we aimed to evaluate the disease condition of patients with pustulotic arthro-osteitis (PAO) at 36-month post-tonsillectomy. A retrospective analysis of the cases of 17 patients with PAO who were resistant to initial systemic treatments and underwent tonsillectomy at our hospital in 2006-2016 was conducted. The patients' disease condition at 1-, 24-, and 36-month post-tonsillectomy was assessed by the visual analog scale (VAS) score for osteoarthropathic pain, the disease duration, the area of palmoplantar lesions, and the Palmoplantar Pustular Psoriasis Area Severity Index (ppPASI). In the minimum follow-up of 36-month post-tonsillectomy in 17 patients, the median ppPASI and VAS scores decreased from 12 to 1 and from 80 to 20, respectively. Thirteen patients with ≥70% improvement in their VAS scores maintained the same good condition after ≥36 months, whereas four patients with <70% improvement in their VAS scores did not show remarkable improvement after that time point. Furthermore, we found that the improvement in VAS score was not associated with the disease duration or the patients' pre-tonsillectomy ppPASI values. Tonsillectomy might be an alternative treatment option for patients with PAO. Long-term efficacy against pain can be predicted by evaluating a patient's improvement at 1-month post-tonsillectomy.

Clinical and epidemiological analysis in 149 cases of rhododendrol-induced leukoderma.

Rhododendrol-induced leukoderma is an acquired depigmentation that develops mainly at the contact site after repeated use of skin-whitening cosmetics containing rhododendrol. In most cases, cessation of further depigmentation or occurrence of repigmentation is observed after discontinuing the use of cosmetics. However, some patients develop vitiligo vulgaris through the spread of depigmentation into the non-exposed areas. Our study aims to investigate the patient-specific factors that may affect the extent of depigmentation or repigmentation, as well as development of vitiligo vulgaris. The degree of depigmentation of the face, neck and hands where exposed to rhododendrol was scored using photographs over time. The relationships between depigmentation score at first visit/improvement rate of depigmentation score and patient demographics were evaluated and three important clinical observations were made. First, repigmentation of the face was superior compared with that of the hands and neck, suggesting a possible role for the migration and differentiation of melanocyte stem cells from hair follicles, as a mechanism of repigmentation. Second, the intensity of rhododendrol exposure did not contribute to differences in the severity of depigmentation. This suggested a possibility of underlying genetic susceptibility to melanocyte cytotoxicity or immune reaction. Third, depigmentation score at first visit and past history of atopic dermatitis were significantly high in patients who developed vitiligo vulgaris. This suggested that severe chemical damage of melanocytes by rhododendrol leads to a higher risk of developing vitiligo vulgaris through the possible involvement of an immune reaction. These clinical observations may help to further understand the pathogenesis of rhododendrol-induced leukoderma.

Increased caspase-2 activity is associated with induction of apoptosis in IFN-beta sensitive melanoma cell lines.

Interferon (IFN) is believed to be one of the most effective anti-melanoma agents. Specifically, IFN-beta has the ability to induce apoptosis of melanoma cells. Induction of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has also been suggested to have a critical role in IFN-beta-induced apoptosis. To characterize the signaling pathway involved in IFN-beta-induced apoptosis, we analyzed the biological effects of IFN-beta on the cell death and caspase activation of melanoma cells. IFN-sensitive cell lines, MM418, SK-mel-23, and SK-mel-118, showed increased apoptotic populations correlated with the activation of caspase-2 and caspase-3 by IFN-beta. IFN-beta-induced apoptosis was significantly suppressed by inhibitors for caspase-2 or caspase-3, but not by inhibitors for caspase-8 or caspase-9 in these cell lines. TRAIL expression was observed in IFN-beta-treated cells of SK-mel-23 and SK-mel-118, but not in those cells of MM418, which showed massive IFN-beta-induced apoptosis and resistance to exogenous TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. G361 was resistant to IFN-beta-induced apoptosis but sensitive to exogenous TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, IFN-beta pretreatment significantly increased the sensitivity against exogenous TRAIL-mediated apoptosis and activation of caspase-2 in G361. These results suggested that caspase-2 activation is commonly associated with induction of IFN-beta-induced apoptosis in IFN-beta-sensitive melanoma cells.