Childhood Pemphigus Foliaceus: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Childhood pemphigus foliaceus typically causes erythema and scaling of the scalp. Sometimes, blisters and oozing are present, which often are misdiagnosed as either impetigo or seborrheic dermatitis. The eruption may progress to involve the trunk and limbs, the lesions often having an arcuate pattern. The diagnosis can be established by histologic and immunologic evaluation. In children, the disease seems to be less severe than pemphigus vulgaris, as is the case with adults, and we recommend a trial of topical steroids before embarking on systemic therapy.     

Nocturnal excretion of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin in children and adolescents with autistic disorder.

BACKGROUND: Many studies in autistic disorder report sleep problems and altered circadian rhythms, suggesting abnormalities in melatonin physiology. Additionally, melatonin, a pineal gland hormone produced from serotonin, is of special interest in autistic disorder given reported alterations in central and peripheral serotonin neurobiology. METHODS: Nocturnal urinary excretion of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin was measured by radioimmunoassay in groups of children and adolescents with autistic disorder (n = 49) and normal control individuals (n = 88) matched on age, sex, and Tanner stage of puberty. RESULTS: Nocturnal 6-sulphatoxymelatonin excretion rate was significantly and substantially lower in patients with autism than in normal controls (mean +/- SEM, .75 +/- .11 vs. 1.80 +/- .17 microg/hr, p =.0001), and was significantly negatively correlated with severity of autistic impairments in verbal communication and play (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate clearly that nocturnal production of melatonin is reduced in autism. Further research is warranted in order to understand the mechanisms underlying the lower melatonin production, to assess the impact of altered melatonin on the pathophysiology and behavioral expression of autistic disorder, and to determine the utility of melatonin administration in individuals with autism.     

Reported versus measured body weight and height of 4-year-old children and the prevalence of overweight

BACKGROUND: In adults, body weight tends to be underestimated when based on self-reported data. Whether this discrepancy between measured and reported data exists in healthy young children is unclear. We studied whether parental reported body weight and height of 4-year-old children corresponded with measured body weight and height. In addition, we studied the determinants and the consequences of differences between reported and measured data. METHODS: Data on body weight and height of 864 4-year-old Dutch children born in 1996/1997 enrolled in the Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy (PIAMA) birth cohort study were collected via a questionnaire and a medical examination. Overweight was defined according to standard international age and gender specific definitions. RESULTS: Mean differences between measured and reported body weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were small. Parents of children with a low BMI tended to over report body weight while parents of children with a high BMI tended to underreport body weight. Whereas 9.5% of the children were overweight according to reported BMI, the prevalence of overweight was 13.4% based on measured BMI. Over 45% of the overweight children according to measured BMI were missed when reported BMI was used. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that overweight prevalence rates in children are underestimated when based on reported weight and height.     

FASN inhibition as a potential treatment for endocrine-resistant breast cancer

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment - The majority of breast cancers are estrogen receptor (ERα) positive making endocrine therapy a mainstay for these patients. Unfortunately, resistance to...     

Concentrations of lysosomal cysteine proteases are decreased in renal cell carcinoma compared with normal kidney

Renal cell carcinoma contains significantly lower concentrations of the lysosomal cysteine proteases, cathepsins B, C, H, L and S, than does normal kidney, as shown by several methods, such as activity determination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. The same low levels of enzyme activity and concentration have been determined in renal cell carcinoma metastases in the lung. Our results on the decreased concentration of cysteine peptidases at the protein level would seem to conflict with earlier results on an increased concentration of the cathepsin L mRNA in renal cell carcinoma.Abbreviations ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - FCS fetal calf serum - NHMec 7-(4-methyl)coumarylamide - NHNap 2-naphthylamide - Z benzyloxycarbonyl     

Can We Clinically Recognize a Vascular Depression?: The Role of Personality in an Expanded Threshold Model

The vascular depression (VD) hypothesis postulates that cerebrovascular disease may “predispose, precipitate, or perpetuate” a depressive syndrome in elderly patients. Clinical presentation of VD has been shown to differ to major depression in quantitative disability; however, as little research has been made toward qualitative phenomenological differences in the personality aspects of the symptom profile, clinical diagnosis remains a challenge.We attempted to identify differences in clinical presentation between depression patients (n = 50) with (n = 25) and without (n = 25) vascular disease using questionnaires to assess depression, affect regulation, object relations, aggressiveness, alexithymia, personality functioning, personality traits, and counter transference.We were able to show that patients with vascular dysfunction and depression exhibit significantly higher aggressive and auto-aggressive tendencies due to a lower tolerance threshold. These data indicate that VD is a separate clinical entity and secondly that the role of personality itself may be a component of the disease process. We propose an expanded threshold disease model incorporating personality functioning and mood changes. Such findings might also aid the development of a screening program, by serving as differential criteria, ameliorating the diagnostic procedure.     

Serological cross-sectional studies on salmonella incidence in eight European countries: no correlation with incidence of reported cases

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Published incidence rates of human salmonella infections are mostly based on numbers of stool culture-confirmed cases reported to public health surveillance. These cases constitute only a small fraction of all cases occurring in the community. The extend of underascertainment is influenced by health care seeking behaviour and sensitivity of surveillance systems, so that reported incidence rates from different countries are not comparable. We performed serological cross-sectional studies to compare infection risks in eight European countries independent of underascertainment. METHODS: A total of 6,393 sera, mostly from existing serum collections representative of the adult population in Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and The Netherlands were analyzed. Immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgM, and IgG against salmonella lipopolysaccharides were measured by in-house mixed ELISA. We converted antibody concentrations to estimates of infection incidence ('sero-incidence') using a Bayesian backcalculation model, based on previously studied antibody decay profiles in persons with culture-confirmed salmonella infections. We compared sero-incidence with incidence of cases reported through routine public health surveillance and with published incidence estimates derived from infection risks in Swedish travellers to those countries. RESULTS: Sero-incidence of salmonella infections ranged from 56 (95% credible interval 8-151) infections per 1,000 person-years in Finland to 547 (343-813) in Poland. Depending on country, sero-incidence was approximately 100 to 2,000 times higher than incidence of culture-confirmed cases reported through routine surveillance, with a trend for an inverse correlation. Sero-incidence was significantly correlated with incidence estimated from infection risks in Swedish travellers. CONCLUSIONS: Sero-incidence estimation is a new method to estimate and compare the incidence of salmonella infections in human populations independent of surveillance artefacts. Our results confirm that comparison of reported incidence between countries can be grossly misleading, even within the European Union. Because sero-incidence includes asymptomatic infections, it is not a direct measure of burden of illness. But, pending further validation, it is a promising and cost-effective approach to assess infection risks and to evaluate the effectiveness of salmonella control programmes across countries.