Background
Acanthosis nigricans (AN) can occur as a cutaneous manifestation of genetic diseases, one of which is associated with activating mutations of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene ...(FGFR3).
Objective
We explored familial AN patients with FGFR3 mutations and examined the effectiveness of glycolic acid (GA) peeling in improving their skin manifestations.
Methods
Sanger sequencing was performed for the genomic DNA extracted from leucocytes of the family members involving familial AN. GA peeling was carried out for the two patients of familial AN once every 2 weeks.
Results
Heterozygous c.1949A>C (p.K650T) mutation in FGFR3 was identified for the affected family members examined, whereas the wild‐type sequence was found for two unaffected individuals. Hyperpigmentation and coarseness of the skin were improved by GA peeling at regular intervals with few adverse effects.
Conclusion
We diagnosed our cases as familial generalized AN caused by heterozygous c.1949A>C (p.K650T) mutation of FGFR3. We propose that GA peeling is a useful and safe therapeutic option to treat familial AN.
Summary
Background. Atopic dermatitis (AD) can be aggravated by mental stress. We recently showed that pretreatment with tandospirone citrate (TC), a serotonin (5‐HT) agonist for the 5‐HT1A receptor ...subtype, significantly inhibits stress‐induced degranulation of mouse dermal mast cells.
Aims. To evaluate the efficacy of TC in treatment of AD.
Methods. Changes in anxiety levels, depression symptoms and the clinical severity of AD after administration of TC were examined. Data were collected for 20 patients with AD who received TC 30 mg/day for 4 weeks and 17 patients with AD who did not receive the drug. Profile of Mood States (POMS) scores were used to meaure several types of mental stress. Severity of AD was evaluated using the SCORAD Index, and the patients’ level of stress and sleeping status were evaluated using visual analogue scales.
Results. Before TC administration, all scores were markedly different in the 37 patients compared with 37 normal healthy controls matched for age and gender. POMS scores for tension–anxiety (T‐A) and the SCORAD Index decreased signficantly in patients who received TC, but did not change significantly in the untreated patients. The two groups had significantly different treatment responses based on changes in T‐A scores. There was a significant correlation between changes in the T‐A score and SCORAD Index.
Conclusion. These data suggest that anxiolytic drugs such as 5‐HT1A agonists are useful in the clinical management of stress‐associated aggravation of AD. Inhibition of stress‐induced mast cell degranulation may be one of the mechanisms underlying the clinical efficacy.
Summary
Background. Various psychological stresses induce degranulation of mast cells. It has been confirmed by animal experiments that stress induced by restraint promotes mast‐cell degranulation ...in various organs, and that the degranulation is inhibited by pretreatment with corticotropin‐releasing factor (CRF)‐neutralizing antibodies, CRF receptor antagonists, and neurotensin (NT) antagonists. Previous studies have suggested that anxiety and fear induced in animals by psychological stressors promote the production and release of various neuropeptides and neurotransmitters, and induce degranulation of mast cells in several organs.
Aim. To evaluate the effect of prior treatment with antipsychotic and anxiolytic agents to inhibit foot‐shock (FS) stress‐induced degranulation of mouse dermal mast cells.
Methods. Using a communication box system, FS was administered to mice and the degranulated dermal mast cells were counted. Chlorpromazine (2 or 4 mg/kg body weight), tandospirone (10 mg/kg body weight) or CRA1000, a selective non‐peptidic CRF receptor type 1 antagonist (10 or 100 mg/kg body weight) was injected intraperitoneally 1 h before exposure to FS.
Results. After FS was administered, the number of dermal mast cells did not change. However, FS significantly increased the proportion of degranulated mast cells. Pretreatment of mice with chlorpromazine hydrochloride, an antipsychotic agent (2 or 4 mg/kg), or the anxiolytic agents tandospirone citrate (10 mg/kg) or CRA1000 (10 or 100 mg/kg), significantly inhibited the FS‐induced mast‐cell degranulation (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.05, P < 0.05, and P < 0.05, respectively).
Conclusions. Antipsychotic and anxiolytic agents may be effective treatments for stress‐aggravated inflammatory skin diseases by inhibition of mast‐cell degranulation.
The Telescope Array experiment is searching for the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using a ground array of particle detectors and three fluorescence telescope stations. The precise ...calibration of the fluorescence detectors is important for small systematic errors in shower reconstruction. This paper details the process of calibrating cameras for two of the fluorescence telescope stations. This paper provides the operational results of these camera calibrations.
We have studied the effect of physical ageing in thin supported glassy polystyrene films by using ellipsometry to detect overshooting in the expansivity-temperature curve upon heating of aged ...samples. Films with thickness 10-200 nm have been aged at 70(degrees) C and 80(degrees) C (below the bulk glass transition temperature). We observe clear relaxation peaks in the expansivity-temperature curve for films thicker than 18 nm but not for the 10 nm film. The intensity of the relaxation peak is inversely proportional to the film thickness, while the temperatures characteristic to the relaxation peak are almost independent of the film thickness. These observations are successfully interpreted by the idea that the surface layer of the order of 10 nm has liquid-like thermal properties.
Summary
Complete deficiency of the fourth component of complement (C4) is an extremely rare condition. However, it has been reported that partial C4 deficiency can occur in normal subjects, and is ...associated with several immune diseases. We report a 44‐year‐old woman who developed slight oedema and punctate purpura on her lower legs after a common cold. She was noted to have persistent microscopic haematuria and proteinuria, and her C4 level was undetectable. On histological examination of a skin biopsy specimen, leucocytoclastic vasculitis was seen, with granular deposition of IgG, IgM, C3 and C1q on the vessel walls in the upper dermis. A renal biopsy showed mild mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis with slight damage to the capillary loops, and granular deposits of IgM and C4 mainly in the mesangium. The patient was systemically well and needed no medication. The C4 level remained low during the observation period, but neither genotyping nor allotyping analysis identified a C4 deficiency.
The molecular arrangement in thin films of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) and poly(9,9-dihexylfluorene) deposited on silicon substrates has been investigated with grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. In ...particular, the effect of the interface on the molecular orientation is highlighted. Both materials display a periodicity normal to the surface arising from stacked sheets of fluorene chains in both the crystalline and liquid crystalline phases. For the crystalline phase, a periodicity in the plane of the surface of 4.15
Å is observed corresponding to half the fluorene ring repeat distance along the backbone, consistent with interdigitating side-chains. For crystalline films deposited onto rubbed polyimide films, strong orientation effects are observed. In the liquid-crystalline phase, this strong in-plane ordering of backbones is lost. Poly(9,9-dihexylfluorene) exhibits an additional degree of ordering in the plane of the interface, which is likely to arise from hexagonal ordering of the backbone chains.
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