Atopic dermatitis disease registry in Japanese adult patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (ADDRESS‐J): Baseline characteristics,treatment history and disease burden

Moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) has a high disease burden and a significant effect on quality of life. Observational studies are necessary to determine the patient disease burden and long‐term disease control in the Japanese population. ADDRESS‐J is a non‐interventional, observational registry of adult Japanese patients with moderate to severe AD. Herein, we report baseline data from the ADDRESS‐J study describing disease characteristics and current treatment practices. At baseline, 300 adult AD patients with Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) scores (range, 0–4) of 3 (moderate) or 4 (severe) whose treatments for AD were intensified, were assessed for clinical and patient‐reported outcomes and current AD treatments. The registry patients’ median age was 34.0 years; 60.7% were male and 71.7% had had AD for more than 20 years. At baseline, 220 study patients had an IGA score of 3 and 80 had an IGA score of 4. The median Eczema Area and Severity Index score was 21.7 (range, 0–72), the median body surface area involvement was 46.25%, and the median pruritus numerical rating scale score was 7.0 (range, 0–10); for each of these measures, higher scores represent greater severity. Most registry patients (86.7%) had recently used topical corticosteroids or topical calcineurin inhibitors as treatment for AD. This registry cohort represents a population of Japanese patients with moderate to severe AD and provides an important resource for characterizing the disease burden and evaluating the safety and effectiveness of various AD treatments.     

Treatment of a plunging ranula with fenestration and continuous pressure

We present a new method of fenestration and continuous pressure as a simple, effective and uninvasive procedure for the treatment of plunging ranulas. We have recently used in four female patients, aged 10-29 years old. After treatment, the patients remained symptom-free and assessment by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed regression of the ranula in all cases. The procedure resulted in satisfactory healing and we advocate it as a simple and effective treatment that is better for patients than conventional treatment.     

Leaching and cytotoxicity of formaldehyde and methyl methacrylate from acrylic resin denture base materials

Acrylic resin dentures have the potential to elicit irritation, inflammation, and an allergic response of the oral mucosa. Studies of substances leachable from acrylic resins, their cytotoxicity to cultured cells, and means of reducing their leaching were systematically conducted. Under in vivo and in vitro conditions, formaldehyde and methyl methacrylate were significantly leached into human saliva and saliva-substitute buffer, especially from autopolymerized resins. Both leachable substances showed cytotoxic potentials in the range of their leaching concentrations. Formaldehyde was cytotoxic at lower concentrations than methyl methacrylate. Preleaching in water reduced subsequent leaching of both formaldehyde and methyl methacrylate, and the amount of reduction depended on an increase in the preleaching temperatures. Immersion of acrylic resin dentures in hot water (50 °C) before insertion is recommended, especially for autopolymerized resins used either for rebasing or as denture base materials, to minimize the risk of adverse reactions in patients who wear acrylic resin dentures.     

Detection of tumor DNA in plasma using whole genome amplification

Altered microsatellite DNA in the blood of cancer patients may provide a novel means for tumor detection. Such alterations are a major characteristic of many types of tumor especially those associated with head or neck cancer. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that senescent tumor cells release DNA into the circulation, which is subsequently carried by the blood and thus enriched in the serum and plasma. We tested 10 head and neck cancer patients (5 with malignant melanomas (MM) and 5 with adenoid cystic carcinomas (ACC)) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based microsatellite analysis of DNA from white blood cells and paired plasma samples. Our goal was to amplify two microsatellite markers, D1S243 and D19S246, which sometimes show microsatellite alterations in head and neck cancer patients. However amplification of fragments from three loci in the plasma samples proved impossible, probably due to the small amounts of DNA isolated. We used multiple displacement amplification (MDA) to amplify genomic DNA from the plasma samples. Two microsatellite fragments were amplified from whole genome amplified DNA. Among 5 heterozygote samples, 3 showed the same pattern in DNA samples from both blood cells and plasma but 2 showed loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Although further study is necessary to confirm whether the LOH found in this study reflects alteration in circulating tumor cell DNA, application of whole genome amplification may allow DNA analysis from limited amounts of such DNA and provide a minimally invasive diagnostic procedure and useful aid in therapy.