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Biomedical subjects

E Frenk

Publications and source records attributed to E Frenk.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Randomized double-blind multicenter study comparing acitretin-PUVA, etretinate-PUVA and placebo-PUVA in the treatment of severe psoriasis.

A randomized double-blind study was designed with 65 patients in order to clarify two points: (1) does addition of a retinoid to psoralen-ultra violet A photochemotherapy (PUVA) of severe psoriasis decrease the UVA energy required to achieve remission, and (2) is there a difference between two retinoids, i.e. etretinate and acitretin. Acitretin-PUVA treatment was significantly superior to placebo-PUVA with respect to several items (decrease in lesional scores after 6 weeks of therapy, number of PUVA exposures, and total dose of UVA until remission). There were also differences between the etretinate-PUVA and placebo-PUVA groups, but only the decrease in lesional scores reached statistical significance.

Acitretin↗
PubMed1988

Minor clinical features of atopic dermatitis. Evaluation of their diagnostic significance.

The diagnostic significance of 8 previously proposed minor features of atopic dermatitis (AD) was evaluated. The minor features studied were: nipple eczema, cheilitis, Dennie-Morgan infraorbital fold, pityriasis alba, anterior neck folds, wool intolerance, white dermographism and infraauricular fissuring. The incidence of these features was appreciated in 105 patients with typical AD (median age 8.5 years) and compared to that in 113 control subjects (median age 16 years). The ages of all studied individuals ranged from 7 months to 24 years. Two of these signs, anterior neck folds and the Dennie-Morgan infraorbital fold as defined by us, were shown to be of no diagnostic significance. The other 6 features were confirmed to be valuable diagnostic clues in AD.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Long-term actinic damage in sun-exposed vitiligo and normally pigmented skin.

Vitiligo provides a model system for studying chronic actinic damage in skin devoid of melanin pigments and thereby permits assessment of their photoprotective function. Our study comprised 23 patients with a mean age of 67 years having stable, long-lasting vitiligo on light-exposed body regions. The vitiliginous and normally pigmented, light-exposed skin was examined clinically for manifestations of chronic actinic damage. In 11 patients skin biopsies were obtained from vitiliginous and adjacent pigmented skin for qualitative and quantitative histological comparison. Our study did not reveal evidence for a significant increase of chronic actinic damage in skin devoid of melanin pigments. These results are in agreement with the rareness of reported skin cancer in vitiligo.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Cytochemical expression of epidermal peroxidase and cytochrome oxidase activities in pathological skin conditions of man.

The cytochemical expression of epidermal peroxidase and cytochrome oxidase activity was recently well documented in normal human skin. We report here its expression in basal and squamous cell carcinomas, actinic keratoses, psoriasis, allergic contact dermatitis, seborrheic keratoses, and autosomal dominant ichthyosis vulgaris. The two enzyme activities were evaluated using the diaminobenzidine method. If present, the two enzymes were always localized in the same organelles as in normal epidermis: endogenous peroxidase in the nuclear envelope and endoplasmic reticulum, and cytochrome oxidase in mitochondria. In basal and squamous carcinomas, actinic keratoses and psoriasis, the keratinocytes lost their peroxidase activity, but maintained their cytochrome oxidase activity. In seborrheic keratoses, allergic contact dermatitis and ichthyosis vulgaris, the cytochrome oxidase activity was greatly reduced or abolished in keratinocytes, Langerhans' cells, and melanocytes, whereas the peroxidase activity was present as in normal epidermis. These results indicate that the two peroxidatic enzymes studied are not interrelated and alternatively suppressed by different cellular dysfunctions.

3,3'-Diaminobenzidine↗
PubMed1986

[Direct identification of Chlamydia trachomatis using fluorescent monoclonal antibodies in infections of the lower urogenital tract].

Direct identification of Chlamydia trachomatis with fluorescent monoclonal antibodies in smears was recently introduced for a rapid diagnosis of lower urogenital tract infections. In the present study the performance of this method was compared with that of the classical cell culture procedure with McCoy cells and iodine staining on 880 clinical specimens (table I). One hundred and twenty specimens in which one of the two methods failed for technical reasons are therefore not available for comparison. Among the remaining 760 specimens there was agreement between the two methods in 724 (95 p. 100). The sensitivity of direct identification was 85 p. 100, its specificity 97 p. 100 (table II). Our results are comparable to those reported in the literature and confirm that direct identification of Chlamydia trachomatis with fluorescent monoclonal antibodies is a useful, reasonably sensitive method for rapid diagnosis of this infection. Failures, which are relatively frequent (8 p. 100 in our series), are mostly due to inadequate specimen collection, the smears containing no epithelial cell.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1986

[Treatment of vitiligo].

The treatment of vitiligo is still unsatisfactory in many patients. The only two methods that have been evaluated in numerous patients are classic psoralen-light therapy and local treatment with potent fluorinated corticosteroids. These two methods in addition to some more recent therapies that have still been insufficiently investigated are reviewed in light of the data in the newer literature.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1985

The prevalence of accentuated palmoplantar markings and keratosis pilaris in atopic dermatitis, autosomal dominant ichthyosis and control dermatological patients.

The prevalence of keratosis pilaris and accentuated palmoplantar marking was evaluated in 61 patients with atopic dermatitis, 35 patients with dominant ichthyosis vulgaris and 247 other dermatological cases taken as controls. Our data showed that (1) these features are of no diagnostic significance for atopic dermatitis and (2) they are significantly more frequent in patients with ichthyosis vulgaris without associated eczema than in those with atopic dermatitis. Consequently, they should be considered as part of the phenotype of ichthyosis vulgaris rather than attributed to a concomitant atopic dermatitis as suggested by some. These findings should be taken into account when evaluating atopic dermatitis or ichthyosis. To assess the frequency of scaling under winter weather conditions, 155 control subjects were also examined for evidence of visible desquamation and 25.8% showed slight but definite scaling.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Neurofibromatosis of von Recklinghausen: a quantitative study of the epidermal keratinocyte and melanocyte populations.

The numerical keratinocyte to melanocyte relation was studied in café au lait spots and adjacent normally pigmented skin of 9 patients with classical neurofibromatosis. Compared to normal skin of healthy individuals, the keratinocyte:melanocyte ratio distributions obtained in neurofibromatosis indicated a shift to lower values in the biopsies of café au lait spots and normally pigmented skin. These results are evidence in favor of an impaired tissue organization of the epidermis in neurofibromatosis with regard to the keratinocyte-melanocyte interrelation.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

[Generalized ichthyosis associated with a spastic syndrome of the lower limbs, a variant of Sjögren-Larsson syndrome? Light and electron microscopy study of ichthyosis and its evolution with oral etretinate treatment].

A generalized ichthyosis with an associated spastic syndrome of the lower extremities, clinically suggestive of Sjögren-Larsson syndrome, was observed in a Tunisian boy. The fatty acid analysis of the serum phospholipids revealed significant abnormalities in the fatty acid pattern of phospholipids. However, the alterations observed were different from those reported in Sjögren-Larsson syndrome. We report light and electron microscopic changes in the ichthyotic skin of this patient, which have not been previously reported in lamellar ichthyosis and in Sjögren-Larsson syndrome. The epidermis was moderately hyperplastic and covered with a thick, compact, orthokeratotic stratum corneum. The stratum spinosum was strikingly altered in some areas. Varying numbers of keratinocytes contained big vacuoles, measuring often up to the size of the nuclei; the vacuoles, were well limited but only partially lined by a membrane, they were empty or contained small amounts of a flaky material. Attempts to stain the vacuoles with PAS, Alcian blue and Fettrot were negative. Etretinate treatment produced a marked shedding of the horny layer without significant improvement of the clinical appearance. The described microscopical alterations of the epidermis remained mostly unchanged during treatment, but, in addition, a marked oedema and vacuolisation of the upper stratum granulosum was observed.

Child↗
PubMed1983

Ultrastructural demonstration of endogeneous peroxidase activity in mammalian epidermis.

With the diaminobenzidine method, endogenous peroxidase activity was demonstrated in the nuclear envelope and in the endoplasmic reticulum of non-keratinized keratinocytes and Langerhans cells of the epidermis of the newborn mouse, adult guinea pig and man. In the guinea pig all non-keratinized layers of keratinocytes showed this enzyme activity, whereas in the two other species examined peroxidase activity was limited to the suprabasal layers. The most pronounced activity was found in the Langerhans cells. The melanocytes were negative. With the same method, cytochrome c/cytochrome oxidase activity could be localized in the mitochondria of all epidermal cells of mouse and man, but not in the guinea pig.

3,3'-Diaminobenzidine↗