Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Suhonen.
After 3 years of occupational exposure to powdered coriander - a spice - a woman developed respiratory symptoms of immediate hypersensitivity. Skin tests, nasal and bronchial challenge tests and the RAST were positive to coriander. Column chromatography, enzymatic digestion of the fractions and skin testing suggested that the allergen is a protein.
Ultraviolet light (UV) tests with high irradiation doses from a dysprosium lamp were performed on the normal appearing skin of seven patients with benign familial chronic pemphigus (FBCP). The skin of the patients showed a more severe vulnerability when compared with the reactivity of the skin of four healthy control persons. In each case the damaged skin of the patients had, in addition to the destructive features, the diagnostic histological acantholysis of FBCP. There was great variation in individual responses to the provocative irradiation and thus the test cannot be considered practical for accurate diagnostic purposes.
The effect of erythemic UV irradiation on the phototoxic reactions caused by topical methoxsalen + UVA exposure was studied on normal skin, normal-looking skin of vitiligo patients, and vitiliginous skin. Although only slight histological changes were detectable 9 days after irradiation with 5 MED of erythemic UV, this pre-irradiation did induce protection against photoxic reactions in all skin types. This protection was clinically equal in all skin types; the slight differences were not statistically significant. Histological evaluation, however, showed a most conspicuous protective effect on vitiliginous skin. In all skin types the influence of UV pre-irradiation was confined to epidermal protection; the dermal phototoxic changes were unaffected.
Experimental phytophotodermatitis was produced using crushed leaves from the gas plant, Dictamnus albus. The tests were made using the chamber method and irradiated with ordinary black light tubes. An occlusion time of not less than 30 min was needed to give a phototoxic reaction in all test subjects. An occlusion time 30-120 min gave the optimal results, but contact for 24 h produced only weak and inconsistent reactions. The phototoxic substance was readily absorbed into the skin within 10-15 min. The phototoxic tendency already began to disappear within 30 min after the tests were removed. UVA energy of 0.3 J/cm2 was enough to evoke a phytophotoreaction in all of the test subjects when other conditions were optimal. The reactions were enhanced by adding water to the test sites. Deep-freezing of the plant material did not destroy the phototoxicity within a 4-month period.
Seven similar cases with deep ulceration probably due to wet cement are presented. Within 12 hours after making a concrete floor in a kneeling position, curved ulcers developed on both sides of both patellae. The exposure time varied from 2 to 6 h. One patient got wet concrete into her boots and, consequently, ulcers developed on her feet. The high alkalinity of calcium hydroxide in wet cement was the only apparent causative agent in every case.
The chamber test, so far successfully applied to epicutaneous testing, proved to be suitable for photoepicutaneous testing as well. A simple and reliable method was developed by dividing the test areas (after removing the tests from the skin) into two equal parts, one for ultraviolet irradiation and the other for dark control. Variations in the amounts of the test substances had a slight influence on the size but not on the strength of the reactions.
The effects of various vehicles, the occlusion time and the concentration of the test substances on the phototoxic reactions were studied using the Finn Chamber method in photoepicutaneous testing, with methoxsalen and coal tar as test substances. Petrolatum proved to be a suitable base for methoxsalen and carbowax for coal tar. The optimal concentration of coal tar was 5% and that of methoxalen 0.03-0.05%. The optimal occlusion time for methoxsalen was 1-2 hours and for coal tar 24 hours. It was concluded that in order to obtain the most reliable results, these parameters should be determined separately for every photosensitizing compound to be tested.
Methoxsalen (8-methoxypsoralen) was used as the photoxic substance in the study of the properties of various vehicles in photoepicutaneous testing. Macrogols as such were relatively poor bases, and positive reactions were seen only occasionally at a concentration of 0.05% methoxsalen. Increasing amounts of water in macrogols brought forth more numerous and stronger reactions. The photoxicity also increased when ethanol was added. The reactions were, however, weaker than to those with aqueous bases. Wool fat and glycerol as vehicles usually reacted in the same way as polyethylene glycols when water was added. An explanation of the mechanism of the changes in the properties of vehicles due to the addition of water/ethanol requires further investigation.
The proportion of cases with fresh syphilis in males contracted by homosexual contacts in Helsinki before and after the change of the criminal law in 1971 was studied. Since 1971, homosexuality is by law no longer a crime in Finland. In 1964, only 2% of males with fresh syphilis admitted a homosexual contact. The same figure was 8% in 1970, and increased to about 50% in 1974 and 1975. It was concluded that a change of legislation concerning homosexuality, probably by several different routes, changed the proportion of cases of detected homosexually transmitted early syphilis. This was thought to be of special importance for case finding and controlling of the spread of syphilis.
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