Application of a pigment measuring device – Mexameter®– for the differential diagnosis of vitiligo and nevus depigmentosus

Background/purpose: Vitiligo and nevus depigmentosus (ND) present similar hypopigmented macules with significantly different prognoses. Although the distinction between the two diseases is important, differential diagnosis relies on medical history and physical examination, which is far from decisive in some cases. The Mexameter^® is an objective skin color-measuring device, and has been reported to provide a reproducible and sensitive means of quantifying small skin color differences. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of a Mexameter^® for discriminating these diseases.
Methods: A selection of 202 hypopigmented skin lesions (182 from vitiligo and 20 from ND) were the objects of this study. Using a Mexameter, MIs were obtained from lesions and symmetrically located control skin. RMIs, ratios of the MIs of lesional skins to control skins, were calculated.
Results: The mean MIs and RMIs were significantly different for vitiligo and ND. The mean RMI of ND lesions was 74±13, which was significantly higher than that of vitiligo lesions (50±24). No ND lesion had an RMI of <50%.
Conclusion: This study shows that the Mexameter^®, an objective pigment-measuring device, can be used to achieve a more accurate diagnosis of hypopigmentary disorders, and that the relative melanin index (RMI), which represents the relative pigment levels, might be a more effective parameter than the melanin index (MI) itself for comparing pigmentation differences.     

Design of an intravenous oxygenator

The aim of this study was to design a new intravenous blood–gas exchange device and to estimate the design characteristics of the device with a dimensionless function by using a substance that can be used instead of bovine blood. In addition, the characteristics of oxygen transfer were estimated using empirical formulas and the reliability of the equations was ascertained by comparing their output with an experiment performed using bovine blood. The dimensionless function was derived using distilled water and bovine blood to estimate the oxygen transfer rate. Using the derived equations, the calculated oxygen transfer rates for bovine blood and distilled water were similar for Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.7 to 7.0. Therefore, it is possible to estimate the oxygen transfer rate in bovine blood, which is a non-Newtonian fluid, using distilled water, which is a Newtonian fluid. Moreover, it was possible to verify the related equations because the oxygen transfer rate could be estimated using the derived equations, according to the diameters of the various device modules.     

The in vitro pharmacological profile of KR31080, a nonpeptide AT1 receptor antagonist

Summary— KR31080 (2-butyl-5-methyl-6-(1-oxopyridin-2-yl)-3-[[2'-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl) biphenyl-4-yl]methyl]-3H-imidazo[4,5-b] pyridine) is a potent inhibitor of angiotensin type 1 (AT₁) receptors in rabbit aorta and human recombinant AT₁ receptors. In the isolated rabbit thoracic aorta, KR31080 caused a nonparallel shift to the right of the concentration-response curves to angiotensin II (All) with decreased maximal response (pD'₂ = 10.1 ± 0.1), but had no effect on the contractile response induced by norepinephrine. KR31080 inhibited specific [¹²⁵I]AII binding to rabbit aortic membranes (AT, receptors) and [¹²⁵I][Sar¹, Ile⁸]AII binding to human recombinant AT₁ receptors in a concentration-dependent manner with IC₅₀ values of 0.84 ± 0.08 nM and 1.92 ± 0.15 nM, respectively, but did not inhibit specific [¹²⁵I)AII binding to bovine cerebellum membranes (ÀT₂ receptors). In the Scatchard analysis, KR31080 interacted with rabbit aortic AT₁ receptors in a competitive manner, similar to losartan. These results demonstrate that KR31080 is a potent and AT₁ selective angiotensin receptor antagonist which exerts a competitive antagonism in the [¹²⁵I]AII binding assay and insurmountable AT₁ receptor antagonism in the functional study.     

Transneuronal degeneration of thalamic neurons following deafferentation: quantitative studies using [3H]thymidine autoradiography.

Transneuronal degeneration of thalamic neurons following partial deafferentation was studied using [3H]thymidine autoradiography. Timed-pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats received systemic injections of [3H]thymidine on embryonic day (E) 13, 14 and/or 15. On the day of birth, pups were anesthetized by hypothermia and subjected to unilateral enucleation, unilateral removal of the inferior colliculus or sham lesion. Animals were sacrificed on postnatal day 10 or 30 and the brains processed for autoradiography. Material from sham-lesioned animals demonstrates that neurons destined for the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGd) undergo final mitoses on E13, 14 and 15. Neurons in the ventral medial geniculate nucleus (MGv) undergo final mitoses on E13 and 14. Thirty days following neonatal unilateral eye removal, the contralateral LGd displays a loss of approximately 30-35% of [3H]thymidine labeled neurons. Neonatal unilateral removal of the inferior colliculus results in a loss of approximately 30-40% of labeled neurons in MGv. For both LGd and MGv, shorter survival times reveal less severe cell loss. Late generated (E15) LGd neurons show less severe loss following enucleation than do earlier generated neurons. These results document the degree of cell loss in sensory thalamic nuclei following deafferentation and demonstrate that [3H]thymidine autoradiography provides a useful quantitative method for assessing anterograde transneuronal cell loss in targeted populations of neurons in the developing central nervous system.     

Food deprivation and hypothalamic neuropeptide gene expression: effects of strain background and the diabetes mutation.

We have used a novel method to identify genes expressed in the hypothalamus which may be potentially involved in controlling food intake and energy metabolism. We assumed that food deprivation, a powerful stimulus of food intake, would stimulate the activity of neural pathways involved in feeding behavior which should be reflected in an increase in the synthesis of any relevant neuropeptide and its messenger RNA. A study of 5 neuropeptides in 5 strains of mice has identified neuropeptide Y (NPY) as a gene whose expression in the hypothalamus is controlled by nutritional status, suggesting that hypothalamic NPY neurons are a link in the neural network regulating feeding behavior and energy metabolism. In addition, we have studied the effect of the diabetes mutation on neuropeptide gene expression during fasting and refeeding. Our findings suggest that abnormal NPY and enkephalin gene expression in the hypothalamus may be two important determinants of the expression of the diabetes mutation.     

Zinc, calcium, and magnesium metabolism: effects on plasmacytomas in Balb/c mice

The effects of different amounts of dietary zinc on the Zn absorption rate and on Zn, calcium and magnesium concentrations in tissues of MOPC 104E tumor-bearing Balb/c mice were determined. The Zn absorption rate was inversely related to the amounts of Zn in their diets and was lower than that of nontumor-bearing control mice fed a laboratory mice chow. Zn concentrations of tumor-bearing mice were also low compared with control mice but tumor Zn concentrations, regardless of the concentrations of Zn in the diets, were higher than those of normal tissues of the host other than the pancreas. Ca concentrations in tumor and tissues of tumor-bearing mice were higher than in control animals but Mg concentrations in tissues of tumor-bearing mice appeared to be similar to those of control mice. Results suggest that tumor-bearing mice have a lower intestinal Zn absorption capacity and a higher Zn uptake rate causing other tissues to become hypozincemic and hypercalcemic.     

Central venous catheter-related Rhodotorula rubra fungemia

With the increased use of indwelling central venous catheters, increasing numbers of cases of Rhodotorula fungemia have been observed in patients with neoplasia and neutropenia. In most patients with catheter-related Rhodotorula fungemia, the condition has been treated with broadspectrum antibiotics. We report two cases of central venous catheter-related Rhodotorula rubra fungemia that occurred in patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia. Both patients were in a state of neutropenia. One patient was treated with amphotericin B and his central venous catheter was removed, but he died of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia. The other patient was treated with amphotericin B and discharged, with a central venous catheter, after recovery from neutropenia. Although the management of catheter-related Rhodotorula fungemia infections remains controversial, resolution of the underlying disease is more important than catheter removal for recovery from Rhodotorula rubra fungemia. Received: August 22, 2001 / Accepted: October 8, 2001     

Surface properties of endosseous dental implants after NdYAG and CO2 laser treatment at various energies.

OBJECTIVES: Dental lasers have been used for uncovering submerged implants as well as decontaminating implant surfaces when treating peri-implantitis. The objective of this study was to compare the possible alterations of the smooth surface and resorbable blast material (RBM) surface implants after using NdYAG and CO(2) lasers at various energies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten smooth surface implants and 10 RBM surface implants were used. Two smooth surface implants and 2 RBM surface implants served as a control group that was not lased. The remaining implants were treated using NdYAG and CO(2) lasers. The surface of each implant was treated for 10 seconds on the second and third threads. The smooth surface implants (group 1) were treated using a pulsed contact NdYAG laser at power settings of 1, 2, 3.5, and 5 W, which are commonly used for soft tissue surgery; the corresponding energy and frequency were 50 mJ and 20 Hz, 100 mJ and 20 Hz, 350 mJ and 10 Hz, and 250 mJ and 20 Hz, respectively. The group 2 RBM implants were treated using a pulsed contact NdYAG laser. The group 3 smooth surface implants were treated using a pulsed wave non-contact CO(2) laser at 1, 2, 3.5, and 5 W, and the group 4 RBM implants were treated using a pulsed wave non-contact CO(2) laser. Data were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: The control surface was very regular and smooth. After NdYAG laser treatment, the implant surface showed alterations of all the surfaces. The amount of damage was proportional to the power. A remarkable finding was the similarity of the lased areas on the smooth and RBM surfaces. CO(2) laser at power settings of 1.0 or 2.0 W did not alter the implant surface, regardless of implant type. At settings of 3.5 and 5 W, there was destruction of the micromachined groove and gas formation. CONCLUSION: This study supports that CO(2) laser treatment appears more useful than NdYAG laser treatment and CO(2) laser does not damage titanium implant surface, which should be of value when uncovering submerged implants and treating peri-implantitis.