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Biomedical subjects

J Ring

Publications and source records attributed to J Ring.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Pro and contra of specific hyposensitization.

Specific hyposensitization is the practice of administering gradually increasing quantities of a specifically relevant allergen to allergic patients until reaching a maintenance dose or loss of symptoms. The most important hypothesis regarding the mechanism is a switch from a Th 2- into a Th 1 reaction pattern in the T cell regulation. The efficacy of specific hyposensitization has been assessed in controlled studies. Allergen extracts are obtained by extraction of the active constituents from animal or vegetable substances with a suitable menstruum. There is a great assortment of different allergen extracts available, but only standardized extracts should be used. Specific hyposensitization is a causal treatment for patients with IgE-mediated allergies like seasonal or perennial allergic rhino-conjunctivitis, asthma or hymenoptera venom allergy. The principal and most effective route of allergen application is the subcutaneous injection. The risk of side effects, especially life threatening anaphylaxis must be considered and can be minimized by careful allergology practice. Oral/sublingual application of allergen extracts is still discussed controversially. Specific hyposensitization requires the high motivation and cooperation of an informed patient.

Allergens↗
PubMed1999

"Eco-syndrome" ("multiple chemical sensitivity"--MCS).

In the physicians's practice in past decades, an increasing number of patients suffering from polysomatic complaints with a subjective feeling of allergy against environmental noxious agents have been seen. Various names for this condition include "Eco-Syndrome" or "Multiple Chemical Sensitivity" (MCS), "Multiorgan Dysesthesia" or "Idiopathic Environmental Intolerances". The uncertainty in the nomenclature reflects the deficiency in the knowledge of the etiopathophysiology and accordingly the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Most patients have completed an odyssey of visiting various specialists including psychiatrists and undergone many kinds of so-called alternative or parascientific procedures. We studied such patients since the early 1980s performing intensive interdisciplinary and allergological investigations. In about two third of the patients psychiatric or psychosomatic disturbances were obvious, but in one third of the patients somatic pathophysiological conditions were regarded as predominant cause of the present complaints. Many patients exhibited various pathophysiological patterns including somatic and psychosomatic alterations. Measurements of indoor air pollutants in the dust or in the air showed in some cases increased values of aromatic hydrocarbones, terpenes etc., without, however, explaining the main complaints. We conclude from our experience that patients presenting with hypersensitivity phenomena related to indoor air pollution are a heterogeneous group. There is no evidence, that "MCS" really exists, often it is diagnosed by the patients themselves. The term "eco-syndrome" describes a "working diagnosis" in order to apply careful interdisciplinary investigations for this heterogeneous group of patients. For the practical management of these patients mutual confidence is a prerequisite for success. The role of indoor air pollutants in triggering unspecific complaints beyond the exclusively toxicological field remains to be elucidated by future studies.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1998

puckered encodes a phosphatase that mediates a feedback loop regulating JNK activity during dorsal closure in Drosophila.

The activation of MAPKs is controlled by the balance between MAPK kinase and MAPK phosphatase activities. The latter is mediated by a subset of phosphatases with dual specificity (VH-1 family). Here, we describe a new member of this family encoded by the puckered gene of Drosophila. Mutations in this gene lead to cytoskeletal defects that result in a failure in dorsal closure related to those associated with mutations in basket, the Drosophila JNK homolog. We show that puckered mutations result in the hyperactivation of DJNK, and that overexpression of puc mimics basket mutant phenotypes. We also show that puckered expression is itself a consequence of the activity of the JNK pathway and that during dorsal closure, JNK signaling has a dual role: to activate an effector, encoded by decapentaplegic, and an element of negative feedback regulation encoded by puckered.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

[Special characteristics of topical treatment in childhood].

Although the barrier function and thickness of the stratum corneum is fully developed in newborns, the infant shows numerous differences in cutaneous and systemic metabolism of topically applied substances in comparison to adults. This discrepancy between children and adults has been explained by the greater systemic availability due to the greater surface area to weight ratio in children. Several topically applied drugs such as hexachlorophene, phenol, salicylic acid and boric acid in high concentration or on large areas have caused toxic reactions and fatalities in infants. Therapeutic approaches to childhood dermatoses differ from these used in adults. These age-dependent differences concerning the topical application of glucocorticosteroids, urea and dyes are described for the treatment of atopic eczema. The development of innovative topical drugs may extend therapeutic options especially in children as shown by a new topical anesthetic cream improving the treatment of mollusca contagiosa, a common childhood problem. Finally, certain physiological differences should be considered in newborn and infant skin care.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1998

Birth of healthy children after intracytoplasmic sperm injection in two couples with male Kartagener's syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To describe two cases in which intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was successful for patients with infertility due to Kartagener's syndrome. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Private hospital for gynecology department of reproductive medicine, and university hospital center for andrology. PATIENT(S): Two couples with primary infertility due to Kartagener's syndrome in the male. INTERVENTION(S): ICSI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Pregnancy and birth after ICSI. RESULT(S): In both couples, ICSI was successful in the first cycle. The uncomplicated pregnancies resulted in the birth of three healthy children. One female and male/female twins. CONCLUSION(S): In couples with infertility due to Kartagener's syndrome in the male, ICSI has proved to be a successful therapy resulting in clinically healthy offspring. This knowledge may improve our understanding of the involvement of paternally inherited centrosomes, which nucleate microtubules, in human reproduction.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

saliva, a new Drosophila gene expressed in the embryonic salivary glands with homologues in plants and vertebrates.

saliva (slv) transcription begins at the salivary gland placodes and continues on throughout development as salivary glands invaginate and reach their final location and morphology. saliva is located cytogenetically in 76A/B, and encodes a 226-amino-acid protein with four hydrophobic domains. A Northern blot detects a 1.6-kb transcript throughout development. Database similarity searches reveal homology to proteins from Caenorhabditis, Lilium, Medicago and mouse.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Effects of recombinant human soluble interleukin-4 receptor on interleukin-4/staphylococcal enterotoxin B-stimulated peripheral mononuclear cells from patients with atopic eczema.

In atopic eczema both in local inflammatory reactions and in peripheral blood high interleukin (IL) 4: interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production ratios have been demonstrated, indicating predominance of TH2 cell subsets resulting in increased IL-4 production and high serum IgE. The in vitro immunomodulatory effects of recombinant human soluble IL-4 receptor (rsIL-4R) on IL-4-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation, IgE and IFN-gamma production were studied in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 patients with atopic eczema and seven healthy donors. In addition to control cultures (without any stimulus) and cultures with simultaneous application of rsIL-4R and IL-4, time-kinetic experiments were performed. We further investigated the influence of rsIL-4R on IL-4 production in staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Early addition of rsIL-4R to IL-4-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells resulted in an increase in IFN-gamma production and in suppression of IL-4 induced proliferation and IgE secretion. Unexpectedly, rsIL-4R in combination with SEB exhibited an IL-4 protective effect with a significant increase in detectable IL-4 in the culture supernatants. The present data support the assumption that rsIL-4R might be a promising new immunomodulatory substance in the treatment of atopic eczema.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The influence of cultural and educational factors on the validity of symptom and diagnosis questions for atopic eczema.

Valid questions for atopic eczema are necessary to identify risk factors in epidemiological studies. We have examined the influence of cultural and educational factors on the validity of some questions on atopic eczema used in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood by using data from a cross-sectional study on 1511 children aged 6 years from East and West Germany. We tested three questions in relation to a point prevalence of atopic eczema as recorded by a dermatologist: (i) has a physician ever diagnosed eczema in your child? (ii) Has your child ever had an itchy rash which came and went for at least 6 months? (iii) Has your child ever had 'neurodermatitis' (atopic eczema, endogenous eczema)? The point prevalence of atopic eczema on the day of investigation was 11.1% (134 of 1217). According to the questionnaire, 15.7% of the children had had physician-diagnosed eczema, 14.1% had had neurodermatitis and 11.3% had had an itchy rash for > 6 months. Fifty-one per cent of parents who had a child with atopic eczema on the day of investigation said that their child had had an itchy rash which came and went for at least 6 months. This sensitivity value is less than that found in another community survey conducted in the U.K., suggesting that the German wording of the question seems to mean something more severe to the parents than the English one. The education of the parents had an influence on the validity of the three questions: parents with < 10 years of schooling often answered symptom and diagnosis questions less positively. Parents with academic degrees, contrary to expectation, did not answer most precisely, this being especially true for the symptom questions. The association between symptom questions and clinical diagnosis was higher in West than in East Germany. We compared lifetime eczema symptoms and diagnosis with a point prevalence clinical diagnosis. In the absence of knowledge of how extraneous factors measured in this paper can affect diseases chronicity, it is difficult to say with certainty that such factors affect the validity of symptom and diagnosis questions on atopic eczema. Our study suggests that more studies are needed to examine the influence of social class, education and location on the validity of symptom questionnaires for atopic eczema. Until then, we recommend that information about such variables should be gathered routinely.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Proteus syndrome with widespread portwine stain naevus.

Proteus syndrome is a rare condition comprising asymmetrical overgrowth of different parts of the body in association with various cutaneous abnormalities. We describe a 3-year-old boy with Proteus syndrome, who presented with hemihypertrophy of the right leg, asymmetric macrodactyly, subcutaneous masses and a widespread portwine stain interspersed with angiokeratomas on the right leg, scrotum and on the middle and left side of the back. Doppler ultrasound of the right leg did not show hypercirculation, but did reveal the absence of the right superficial femoral vein.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1998

Role of Staphylococcus aureus surface-associated proteins in the attachment to cultured HaCaT keratinocytes in a new adhesion assay.

Colonization of human skin with Staphylococcus aureus is a common feature in a variety of dermatologic diseases. In order to reproducibly investigate the adherence of Staphylococcus aureus to human epidermal cells, an in vitro assay was established using the biotin/streptavidine labeling system and the HaCaT cell line. This assay was used to define the role of several Staphylococcus aureus surface proteins with regard to their function in the staphylococcal adhesion process. Our studies included the standard laboratory strain Newman as well as its genetically constructed mutants DU5873, DU5852, DU5854, and DU5886 generated by allele replacement or transposon mutagenesis, which are deficient in the elaboration of staphylococcal protein A (spa), clumping factor (clfA), coagulase (coa), and the fibronectin-binding proteins A and B (fnbA/B), respectively. In comparison with strain Newman all mutants showed remarkably reduced adherence to the HaCaT keratinocyte cell line in our assay, yielding only between 43% and 60% of the adherence capacity of strain Newman after 60 min. Bacterial adherence could be re-established by introducing the cloned wild-type genes for the surface proteins on shuttle plasmids into the chromosomally defective mutants, thus suggesting a pathogenetic role of these proteins in the attachment of Staphylococcus aureus to human keratinocytes. Bacterial adherence was additionally enhanced by alkaline pH-values that are characteristic for skin conditions with epidermal barrier dysfunction. The use of Staphylococcus aureus mutant strains, deficient in the elaboration of defined proteins, allows specific investigation of colonization and virulence factors of this dermatologic relevant microorganism.

Bacterial Adhesion↗
PubMed1998

Modulation of cutaneous SP receptors in atopic dermatitis after UVA irradiation.

Atopic dermatitis is a pruritic inflammatory skin disorder, involving immunological and non-immunological factors. Substance P seems to be involved in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis. Substance P-containing nerve fibers are increased in the lesional skin of patients with atopic dermatitis and a reduced weal and flare reaction to intradermal injection of substance P has been observed. We investigated the distribution of substance P receptors in the involved skin of patients before and after single or repetitive UVA irradiations. Our results indicate that substance P receptors of the NK-1 subtype are expressed on blood vessels and on epidermal keratinocytes of involved skin of patients with atopic dermatitis. UVA irradiations did not modify the epidermal distribution of substance P receptors but decreased their expression intensity on blood vessels. UVA irradiations seem to decrease skin inflammation through the modulation of NK-1 receptor expression on endothelial cells.

Dermatitis, Atopic↗