More dermatologic problems of musicians.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Kaur.
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Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and plasma levels of fibronectin (Fn) were studied in 74 untreated leprosy patients. CRP was detected by latex agglutination in 25.6% of the patients. A significant increase in Fn levels was seen in all the groups of leprosy patients, as compared to the controls.
Six boys with pemphigus vulgaris and one boy with pemphigus foliaceus are reported. The youngest patient had onset of the disease at the age of 7 years. Three patients with pemphigus vulgaris were treated with intravenous dexamethasone pulses, while the remaining four received oral corticosteroid therapy. The prognosis in all patients was excellent.
The diagnostic significance of 19 previously proposed minor features of atopic dermatitis was evaluated. The frequency of these features was studied in 50 patients with typical atopic dermatitis compared to that in 50 control subjects. The ages of all individuals ranged from 3 months to 12 years. Six of the minor features, chelitis, nipple eczema, perifollicular accentuation, white dermographism, recurrent conjunctivitis, and anterior neck folds, were encountered as often in patients as in controls. Two additional features that were of diagnostic significance were diffuse scaling of the scalp and infraauricular fissuring.
During a period of eight years, 132 new leprosy cases were detected in children ages 3 to 19 years. Borderline tuberculoid leprosy was present in 59%, tuberculoid in 7.6%, and indeterminate type in 3.8% patients. Single skin lesions were seen in a significant number (43.9%) of patients. Bacillus-positive disease was detected more often (17.4%) than in adults. A high frequency (66.6%) of nerve involvement was also detected. Deformities were uncommon. Males were more often affected than females, especially in the ages 10 to 14 and 15 to 19 years. A history of contact was available in only 19.7% patients, and the contact was intrafamilial in 84.6%.
Lichen planus is a dermatosis of unknown origin with a very limited frequency in children. Over a period of one and a half years we observed 17 cases of childhood lichen planus. The classic form of the disease as seen in adults was the most common in these children; unlike adults, however, mucosal and nail involvement was uncommon. The natural history of the disease was similar to that in adults.
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After peritoneal macrophages had been exposed to different concentrations of nifedipine (10-120 ng mL-1) there was a significant increase (P less than 0.001) in the percentage of Leishmania donovani infected macrophages compared with controls. Parasite load was also significantly increased (P less than 0.001) in nifedipine-treated, L. donovani infected, BALB/c mice, compared with untreated, infected mice, post-inoculation. Peak chemiluminescence responses were significantly depressed (P less than 0.001) in nifedipine-treated infected mice compared with untreated mice post-inoculation. It is suggested that availability of intracellular calcium is a factor in the defense mechanism of inflammatory cells in L. donovani infections.
Renal functional status in Mycobacterium leprae infected mice can be best studied by examining the enzymatic status of brush border membrane vesicles from proximal convoluted tubule. The role of vaccination in modulation of the renal status brought by the disease has been studied using this technique. The characteristic marker enzymes of renal brush border membrane--namely alkaline phosphatase, leucine aminopeptidase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase decreased significantly (p less than 0.01) in due course in M. leprae infection over a period of 9 months. The combined vaccine (BCG + M. leprae) may have a protective effect on renal abnormalities only in the initial stages of infection as indicated by a significant rise in enzymatic levels. However, no significant (p greater than 0.05) protective effect of vaccine was found in a more advanced disease state after 9 months in infected mice.
Epidermal calmodulin (CaM) levels were measured in the involved and uninvolved skin in 26 psoriasis patients before and after treatment either with dithranol topically or methotrexate orally. The mean epidermal calmodulin levels (+/- SD) in the involved and uninvolved psoriatic skin before treatment were 21.99 +/- 10.22 and 11.97 +/- 3.50 in the patients to be treated with short contact dithranol therapy (SCDT) while it was 19.46 +/- 8.13 and 11.27 +/- 7.23 in the patients to be treated with systemic methotrexate. Clearance of psoriatic lesions was associated with a significant fall (P less than 0.05) in epidermal calmodulin, activity irrespective of the treatment modality used. Also, there was a significant reduction (P less than 0.05) in the calmodulin levels in the epidermis of uninvolved skin following successful treatment.
The structural elucidation of covalent xenobiotic modifications in proteins is a powerful approach to identify compounds that may be responsible for genotoxic damage in humans. Many proteins, such as hemoglobin can be readily obtained in relatively large quantities. Since covalent modifications in proteins are not repaired, xenobiotic damage can accumulate over the lifetime of the protein and reveal exposure over extended time periods. Recently developed mass spectrometric methods are ideally suited to tackling protein structural problems involving covalent modifications. A variety of strategies to identify xenobiotic covalent modifications in proteins using mass spectrometry are discussed.
Prescribing of topical corticosteroids was studied in 200 patients attending the dermatology outpatients, randomly auditing the written prescriptions. Data with regard to potency, quantity, frequency, duration and site of application was collected and analyzed. Potent topical steroids were commonly used in 86 (43%) patients. The quantity of topical steroid was mentioned in only 4% patients whereas the frequency was specified in 77%, the site in 69% and the duration in 55% patients, respectively. The importance of these parameters is discussed, guidelines regarding use of topical steroids suggested.
The peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations in Indian women with various grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [33], invasive cancer [22] and matched controls [30] were studied using specific monoclonal antibodies and biotin avidin immunofluorescence technique. Our results showed a significant fall in peripheral T (CD2) B(CD22) cells in patients with CIN III and invasive cervical cancer lesions compared to controls (P less than 0.001). Similarly the quantum of T helper cells (CD4) decreased according to the severity of cervical lesions (P less than 0.01 - P less than 0.001), whereas the T suppressor cells (CD8) depicted an increasing trend in patients with higher grade of cervical lesions (CIN III and invasive cancer, P less than 0.001) as compared to controls. Further, the CD4/CD8 ratio showed a significant downfall with the severity of cervical lesions (P less than 0.01 - P less than 0.001), indicating a perturbance in the homeostasis of host cellular immunity.
An active site, cofactor-containing peptide has been obtained in high yield from bovine serum amine oxidase. Sequencing of this pentapeptide indicates: Leu-Asn-X-Asp-Tyr. Analysis of the peptide by mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance leads to the identification of X as 6-hydroxydopa. This result indicates that, contrary to previous proposals, pyrroloquinoline quinone is not the active site cofactor in mammalian copper amine oxidases. Although 6-hydroxydopa has been implicated in neurotoxicity, the data presented suggest that this compound has a functional role at an enzyme active site.
The C3H strain of mouse has a high incidence of murine mammary tumor virus-induced mammary tumors, and tumorigenesis progresses via the intermediate formation of the preneoplastic, hyperplastic alveolar nodules (HANs). The C3H mouse also exhibits an elevation in 16 alpha-hydroxylation of estradiol which remains unaltered in relation to the age or presence of tumor, but which is detectable well before the emergence of overt mammary cancer. This metabolic pathway leads to the formation of 16 alpha-hydroxyestrone (16 alpha-OHE1), a putative promoter of mammary cancer. The present study examines the effect of two prototype chemopreventive agents, tamoxifen (TAM) and N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide (HPR), on 16 alpha-hydroxylation of estradiol and on the growth of HANs. Treatment with TAM, HPR, or a combination of TAM and HPR for 4 weeks in 6- to 8-week-old C3H mice resulted in a consistent elevation in the 16 alpha-hydroxylation pathway of estradiol metabolism relative to the placebo control group (20.50% +/- 2.35%, 21.46% +/- 1.49%, 18.00% +/- 1.75%, and 12.64% +/- 1.45% SD, respectively) and in a significant decrease in the mean frequency of HANs per mammary gland (1.4, 2.1, 0.0, and 5.8, respectively). Mice without any experimental manipulation exhibited an age-dependent progressive increase in HAN frequency from 1.5 per gland at 4 weeks of age to 12.1 per gland at 24 weeks of age. Administration of TAM, HPR, or a combination of TAM and HPR up to 22 weeks of age resulted in a continued suppression of HAN frequency, and the two agents in combination exerted an additive effect on the suppression of HAN development.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
In the present study, the percentage of lymphocyte subpopulations and their relation to T cell subsets was estimated during acute and chronic Plasmodium berghei malaria. During acute infection, a decreased percentage of T lymphocytes was observed, whereas no change was observed during chronic infection. However, no change in the percentage of B cells was observed in both types of infection. The T cell population was characterized by an increased percentage of T suppressor cytotoxic (CD8+) cells and a decreased percentage of T helper cells (CD4+) during acute infection. This resulted in an inversion of the CD8+/CD4+ cell ratio. During chronic infection no change in the CD8+ cell percentage was observed; however some increase in CD4+ cell percentage was observed in later stages. Thus failure of the immune system to overcome acute infection may be due to an increase in T suppressor cells, and maintenance of parasites at subpatent levels during chronic infection may involve the normal CD8+/CD4+ cell ratio with some increase in CD4+ cells.