Objective bioengineering methods to assess the effects of moisturizers on xerotic leg skin of elderly people.
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Topical capsaicin is well known to reduce nociceptive pain and neurogenic inflammation by depleting substance P. Its fibrinolytic and antithrombotic effects are less well known. We report two cases of acute lipodermatosclerosis which did not respond to several conventional treatment regimens and one case of acute lobular panniculitis in a pregnant woman with venous insufficiency, who were successfully treated within a short period of 3 weeks with topical 0.075% capsaicin cream.
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The basis for the extrathyroidal manifestations of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and dermopathy are not well understood. We describe immunohistochemical studies on the skin of a patient with an extreme, elephantiasic form of Graves' dermopathy that developed after periods of prolonged standing with dependent edema. Excision of part of the lesion with subsequent skin grafting from a normal donor site resulted in recurrence of the disease at the original site as well as in development of disease at the donor site. A murine monoclonal antibody reacted with the thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) or a cross-reacting protein in fibroblast-like cells in the patient's upper dermis and, surprisingly, with dermal cells from unaffected individuals. The patient's dermis containing lymphoid follicles comprising B cells and CD3+, CD4+ T cells, with few CD8+ T cells. CD21+ cells (most likely follicular dendritic cells) were also present in the dermis. Based on past and present observations, we raise an unifying hypothesis to explain the diverse extrathyroidal manifestations of Graves' disease and their apparent lack of association with TSHR autoantibodies. As opposed to the present concept that these phenomena relate to site-specific properties on preadipocytes or fibroblasts, we suggest that clinically evidence GO and dermopathy are primarily caused by local factors (particularly in the orbit) superimposed on a systemic, low-grade connective tissue inflammation.
Severe thyroid associated dermopathy (TAD), a rare complication of Graves' disease, currently lacks effective treatment. Mediators of growth and inflammation, including insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and somatostatin (SST) have been implicated in its pathogenesis. Octreotide, a potent SST analogue, has been used in TAD with anecdotal success. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of long-term octreotide therapy in moderate to severe TAD. Three obese women with TAD were studied. Baseline treatment included levothyroxine, methimazole, fluocinonide ointment under occlusive dressing, and physiotherapy for lymphedema. After establishing baseline clinical status, octreotide was started (300 microg subcutaneously daily) for 10 to 28 months. Studies obtained at baseline and every 3 months included: leg circumference, skin examination, clinical photography, self-reported clinical status, body mass index (BMI), serum thyrotropin (TSH) and free thyroxine, titers of antithyroidal and anti-TSH receptor antibodies. Minimal changes in the edema, erythema, skin texture and size of nodules were observed. The minor changes seen followed significant decreases in the patients' BMI, and hence, cannot be specifically attributed to octreotide administration. No clinically significant benefit from long-term octreotide therapy was demonstrated in three patients with moderate to severe TAD. Weight loss and measures such as compression bandaging and topical corticosteroid application still remain the most cost effective treatment modalities for TAD.
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Seven patients affected by Graves' ophthalmopathy and pretibial myxedema (four patients with nodular form, two with diffuse, and one with elephanthiasic form) have been treated with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulins. We have observed (a) clinical improvement of pretibial myxedema and Graves' ophthalmopathy in all patients, (b) a reduction of pretibial skin thickness, by ultrasonography evaluation, in four patients, (c) a reduction of mucopolysaccharide skin content in three patients, (d) disappearance of lymphocytic skin infiltration and IgG deposition in two patients, and (e) a parallel reduction of the titer of circulating autoantibodies as antithyroglobulin, antimicrosomal, anti-TSH receptor, and of non-organ-specific antibodies as antinuclear, anti-smooth muscle cells, and anti-mitochondrial. In comparison two patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy and pretibial myxedema treated with systemic corticosteroids did not present any improvement of the cutaneous ailment. Therefore, this study suggests that intravenous immunoglobulins are effective in the treatment of pretibial myxedema and may have an immunomodulant action in patients with Graves' disease and related disorders.
Infiltrating immunocompetent cells act to establish and perpetuate the orbital autoimmune process in thyroid eye disease (TED). Until recently, it has remained unclear whether T cells infiltrating the orbital connective/fatty tissue and extraocular muscles represent a primary immune response that is specifically directed against orbital antigens. In addition, despite a close clinical and temporal association of the thyroidal and extrathyroidal manifestations in Graves' disease (GD), it has not been proven whether T cells infiltrating thyroid, orbital, and pretibial tissue in patients with TED and pretibial dermopathy (PTD) are directed against certain antigenic determinants shared between these anatomically distinct tissues. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular analysis of T-cell antigen receptor (TcR) variable (V) region genes, we have demonstrated marked restriction of orbital and pretibial TcR Valpha and Vbeta genes in patients with active TED and PTD. In addition, molecular analysis of T cells in paired samples of extraocular muscle and orbital connective/fatty tissue revealed usage of similar TcR V genes. In contrast, TcR V gene restriction was either absent or much less pronounced in patients with longstanding TED and PTD. Comparison of TcR V genes in T cells obtained from thyroid gland, orbital tissue, pretibial tissue, and peripheral blood of three individual patients with active GD, TED, and PTD also revealed marked restriction and, in addition, striking similarities of TcR V gene usage. Sequencing of complementarity determining regions 3 (CDR3) and junctional domains of TcR Vbeta genes confirmed oligoclonality of intrathyroidal, orbital, and pretibial T cells. Moreover, several conserved junctional motifs were shared by T cells infiltrating the thyroid gland and the extrathyroidal sites. Taken together, these data suggest that, in patients with GD and extrathyroidal manifestations, similar antigenic determinants may be responsible for recruitment and oligoclonal expansion of T cells both within the thyroid gland and in the involved extrathyroidal sites.
EMO syndrome, a rare complication of Graves' disease, exhibits exophthalmos, pretibial myxedema, and osteoarthropathy. The presence of functional thyrotropin receptors (TSHR) in adipocytes and osteoblasts, both of which we have recently observed, may be related to these extrathyroidal manifestations of Graves' disease. In addition, the expression of TSHR in the heart has recently been reported. We describe here a patient with Graves' disease exhibiting EMO syndrome with a papillary fibroelastoma in the left ventricle. Pathological examinations showed that the fibroelastoma contained Alcian blue-stained mucinous materials that were also observed in the subcutaneous tissue of pretibial myxedema.
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This report documents a case series of miliaria rubra of the lower limbs in miners at a deep underground metalliferous mine in tropical arid Australia. During the summer months of February and March 1999, all cases of miliaria rubra of the lower limbs in underground miners seen at the mine's medical centre were clinically examined and administered a questionnaire. Twenty-five patients were seen, an incidence of 56.4 cases per million man-hours. Miliaria rubra was most often located between the ankle and knee (88% of cases). Twenty-four percent had concurrent folliculitis and 20% had concurrent tinea. Thirty-two percent had a personal history of asthma. Walking through ground-water and splashing of the legs was common. Three to 4 weeks of sedentary duties in air conditioning was generally required to achieve resolution of miliaria rubra. The incidence of miliaria rubra of the lower limbs is 38% of the incidence of heat exhaustion at the same mine. The length of disablement is greater, however. Atopics may be at increased risk of miliaria rubra. Control measures are discussed.
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Erythema induratum of Bazin (EIB) is a chronic, recurring panniculitis that is found predominantly on the legs of women with tuberculin hypersensitivity. A causal relationship between EIB and Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains elusive because of the absence of demonstrable organisms in skin lesions. We reviewed the clinicopathological features of 20 patients (all women) with positive Mantoux tests (1:10,000 dilution) and characteristic skin lesions of EIB that cleared up with combined antituberculous treatment. Histological examination of skin lesions confirmed panniculitis with varying combinations of granulomatous inflammation, primary vasculitis, and necrosis. Sections from 20 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin biopsies obtained from the 20 patients were submitted for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using oligonucleotide primers for the detection of a 123-bp DNA fragment specific for the M. tuberculosis complex. M. tuberculosis DNA was identified in five of the 20 biopsies. Meticulous care was taken to prevent contamination as a source of false-positive results. Mycobacterial DNA was absent in all negative controls and in normal skin biopsies from purified protein derivative-positive patients with and without EIB. These results provide direct evidence that mycobacterial components are present in EIB lesions and strongly suggest that M. tuberculosis is involved in the pathogenesis of EIB.