Efficacy of injecting hybrid cooperative complexes of hyaluronic acid for the treatment of vulvar lichen sclerosus: A preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Lichen sclerosus is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease, which involves most commonly the anogenital region. The gold standard in treatment is ultra-potent topical steroids (clobetasol propionate): it aims at controlling the symptoms, stopping further scarring and distortion, and reducing the risk of cancer. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this preliminary study is to evaluate the efficacy of injecting Hybrid Cooperative Complexes of Hyaluronic Acid (HCC) for the treatment of vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS). METHODS: Twenty female adult patients (range: 21-78 years), aged over 18, with histopathological diagnosis of lichen sclerosus and good general conditions were enrolled. Patients underwent HCC infiltration every month, for 3 times. Patients were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after one (T1) and six months (T2) after treatment. During every visit, each patient was studied clinically and with videothermography. Itching, burning sensation, pain, and dyspareunia were reported by patients at T0, T1, and T2. The effectiveness of the treatment on patients' quality of life and sexual function was evaluated using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) at T0 and at T2. RESULTS: The results of this preliminary study are very promising, in fact, all patients had a significant reduction in most symptoms after 1 and 6 months of HCC treatment. The reduction of patients with itching (p value ≤ 0.001), pain (p value = 0.031), and burning sensation (p = 0.004) at 6 months is significant. The analysis of DLQI scores revealed a significant improvement in patients' quality of life. At baseline, the average score of DLQI (±SD) was 5.89 ± 3.68 while at follow-up it was 3.42 ± 2.36 (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary study has demonstrated the validity and tolerability of HCC infiltrations in patients with VLS, and the effectiveness of HCC in reducing symptoms and, thus, to improve sexuality and patient quality of life.

Effects of 50 Hz electromagnetic field exposure on apoptosis and differentiation in a neuroblastoma cell line.

Experiments were carried out to assess whether a magnetic field of 50 Hz and 1 mT can influence apoptosis and proliferation in the human neuroblastoma cell line LAN-5. TUNEL assays and poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) expression analysis were performed to test apoptosis induction, and the WST-1 assay was used to calculate the proliferation index in a long term exposure. No alterations were found in cellular ability to undergo programmed cell death, but a small increase in the proliferation index was evidenced after 7 days of continuous exposure. Also, a slight and transient increase of B-myb oncogene expression was detected after 5 days of exposure. Combined exposures of cells to EMF and to chemical agents which interfere with proliferation, such as the differentiative agent retinoic acid and the apoptotic inducer camptothecin, showed an antagonistic effect of magnetic fields against the differentiation of the LAN-5 cells and a protective effect towards apoptosis.

A laser assisted deposition technique suitable for the fabrication of biosensors and molecular electronic devices.

The recently developed technique of laser induced plasma deposition is used to obtain layers of different protein molecules on a substrate. The biological activity of the deposits is checked and micropatterning of active antibodies is achieved.

Effect of in vivo hyperthermia on thymocyte maturation and selection.

Two-month-old male mice were exposed to whole-body hyperthermic treatment in a circulating water bath. After 1 h exposure to 41 degrees C, mice were kept at room temperature for 24, 48, 72, and 96 h before thymus examination. The total thymocyte number progressively decreased after 24 and 48 h, reached a minimum value at 72 h, and returned to almost normal value after 96 h. Similar changes occurred in the CD4+CD8+ cell subset. Conversely, the percentage of CD4-CD8- cells rose to a maximum at 48 h and then declined to normal value at 96 h. The percentage of CD4-CD8+ and CD4+CD8- cell subsets increased to a maximum at 48 h and then declined to normal value at 96 h. These variations in single positive cell subsets correlated well with similar changes in the thymocyte mitotic response to concanavalin A. The observed effects on thymocytes were heat dose dependent, and suggest that hyperthermia induces the development of the most primitive thymocytes and positively selects mature T cells with high mitotic responsiveness. It is proposed that heat shock proteins might be involved in the hyperthermia-induced alterations of thymocyte maturation and selection.

Interspersed repetitive L1 family is differentially transcribed during the murine thymus ontogeny.

Repetitive L1 family in the first LINE (Long Interspersed Element) found in mammals. Structural and evolutionary studies demonstrated the capability of this family to play a functional role and several examples of L1 transcription have been reported in humans and mice especially in tumor cell lines.In this paper a general decrease in the L1 transcription level in different murine thymoma cell lines transformed by different means as compared to a normal counterpart represented by adult thymus is shown. When the same kind of analysis has been performed on normal thymus at different stages of differentiation (17th day embryos, new born, 30th day after birth) a modulated pattern of L1 transcription with a peak in the new born thymus was found. Furthermore, heterogeneous L1 transcription in all the above cases is demonstrated and its possible functional meaning discussed.