Spectrum of infections and outcome among hospitalized South Africans with systemic lupus erythematosus

Clinical Rheumatology - Our aim was to determine reasons for admission, the prevalence and spectrum of infections, and the outcomes in a multiethnic cohort of hospitalized systemic lupus...     

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: Rare cause of head and neck swelling

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberance of head and neck is a rare neoplasm and accounts for less than one percent of Head and Neck Neoplasm. The objective of this report is to understand etiology, presentation, histopathologic identification and treatment option for this tumour. The goal of current report is to acquaint the clinician with presentation and treatment option for this disease.     

Clinical Experience with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Photomodulation

Background. Light-emitting diode (LED) photomodulation is a novel nonthermal technology used to modulate cellular activity with light.
Objective:. We describe our experience over the last 2 years using 590 nm LED photomodulation within a dermatologic surgery environment.
Methods. Practical use of nonthermal light energy and emerging applications in 3,500 treatments delivered to 900 patients is detailed.
Results. LED photomodulation has been used alone for skin rejuvenation in over 300 patients but has been effective in augmentation of results in 600 patients receiving concomitant nonablative thermal and vascular treatments such as intense pulsed light, pulsed dye laser, KTP and infrared lasers, radiofrequency energy, and ablative lasers.
Conclusion:. LED photomodulation reverses signs of photoaging using a new nonthermal mechanism. The anti-inflammatory component of LED in combination with the cell regulatory component helps improve the outcome of other thermal-based rejuvenation treatments.     

Antiviral activity of purified human breast milk mucin

Human breast milk is known to contain numerous biologically active components which protect breast fed infants against microbes, viruses, and toxins. The purpose of this study was to purify and characterize the breast milk mucin and determine its anti-poxvirus activity. In this study human milk mucin, free of contaminant protein and of sufficient quantity for further analysis, was isolated and purified by Sepharose CL-4B gel filtration and cesiumchloride density-gradient centrifugation. Based on the criteria of size and appearance of the bands and their electrophoretic mobility on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, Western blotting together with the amino acid analysis, it is very likely that the human breast milk mucin is MUC1. It was shown that this breast milk mucin inhibits poxvirus activity by 100% using an inhibition assay with a viral concentration of 2.4 million plaque-forming units/ml. As the milk mucin seems to aggregate poxviruses prior to their entry into host cells, it is possible that this mucin may also inhibit other enveloped viruses such as HIV from entry into host cells.     

Oligoastrocytoma presenting with intractable epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: Oligoastrocytomas (OA) are mixed gliomas with distinct oligodendroglial and astrocytic neoplastic components. Very little about OA has been reported in the intractable epilepsy population. METHODS: We undertook a retrospective review of 923 patients who underwent resective surgery for intractable epilepsy between 1996 and 2004. RESULTS: 6/923 (0.7%) patients were diagnosed with OA. Five patients were female, one was male. Median age at diagnosis was 25 years (range 19-44 years). Tumors arose from the left side in all patients and from the temporal lobe in five patients. Three patients had complex partial seizures. Median length of refractory epilepsy prior to surgery was 10.5 years (range 1-28 years), and the median number of antiepileptic drugs used was 2 (range 1-10). Preoperative WADA testing for language and memory localization was done for three patients; preoperative stereotactical localization was done for three patients. Surgical pathology revealed low-grade OA (WHO II) in five patients, and anaplastic OA in one. There were no surgical complications, clinical or radiographic tumor recurrence at a mean follow up period of 3.2 years (range 2-8). Excellent seizure freedom was achieved in 5/6 patients. CONCLUSION: As a result of our small sample size, general conclusions may be imprecise, but this review suggests that OA behave similar to other tumors related to intractable epilepsy: they usually have a preoperative seizure course of many years, an excellent rate of seizure-freedom following surgery, and are in general, low-grade tumors with an indolent course for which serial imaging is sufficient follow-up.     

Molecular characterization of two soybean-infecting begomoviruses from India and evidence for recombination among legume-infecting begomoviruses from South [corrected] South-East Asia

The complete nucleotide sequences of two soybean-infecting begomoviruses have been determined from central and southern parts of India. Sequence analyses show that the isolate from central India is a strain of Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus (MYMIV) and the southern Indian isolate is a strain of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV). Multiple DNA B components could be detected with the soybean strain of Mungbean yellow mosaic virus species. The nucleotide sequence similarity between the DNA A components of the two isolates is higher (82%) than that between the corresponding DNA B components (71%). Analyses of the common region of the genomic components of these two virus isolates indicate considerable divergence in the origin of replication (ori), which did not impair their infectivity as demonstrated for the central Indian isolate by agroinfection with partial tandem repeats (PTRs) of the genomic components. Detailed sequence and phylogenetic analyses reveal the distribution and possible recombination events among legume-infecting begomoviruses from South-East Asia.