IgG antibodies and early intradermal reactions to hydrocortisone in patients with cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity to hydrocortisone

Seven of 25 patients with cutaneous delayed-type hypersensitivity to hydrocortisone had an immediate reaction following the intradermal injection of hydrocortisone sodium succinate. Using an ELISA method, we found that these patients had significantly increased levels of IgG antibodies to hydrocortisone when compared with normal blood donors (P<0.005) and nickel-allergic patients (P<0.05). We suggest that these patients are at risk of developing type III and possibly type I reactions following the systemic administration of hydrocortisone and that, if needed, an alternative systemic corticosteroid should be used, for example betamethasone or dexamethasone.     

Hypersensitivity to topical corticosteroids

Contact hypersensitivity from topical corticosteroids is becoming increasingly recognized; it is present in 2–5% of the patients attending contact dermatitis clinics. The use of a corticosteroid series containing tixocortal pivalate 1% (petrolatum), to detect hypersensitivity to hydrocortisone, and other steroids 1% (ethanol), depending on local corticosteroid usage, detects the majority of cases of corticosteroid hypersensitivity. In selected cases, the use of intradermal tests further improves the diagnosis of corticosteroid hypersensitivity. Corticosteroid hypersensitivity occurs most frequently among patients with stasis dermatitis. However, corticosteroid hypersensitivity is also common in other types of dermatitis, occurring as frequently as hypersensitivity to several allergens (e.g. wool alcohols and colophony) in the European standard battery. Although hypersensitivity has mainly been reported with corticosteroids applied to the skin, reactions may also occur on mucosal surfaces, following systemic administration and with sex steroids.     

Unilateral linear capillaritis

We present four cases of a distinctive type of pigmented purpuric eruption occurring in a striking linear and pseudo-dermatomal distribution in young males. Whilst these cases share some of the clinical and histological features of other pigmented purpuric dermatoses, they are not readily classified with any of the entities so far defined in this group of disorders. We believe these cases represent a distinct group not previously described. Four patients with an unusual pigmented purpuric eruption are presented.     

Detection of chromosomes and estimation of aneuploidy in human spermatozoa using fluorescence in-situ hybridization

The development and application of fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) has opened the way for comprehensive studies on numerical chromosome abnormalities in human spermatozoa. FISH can be rapidly applied to large numbers of spermatozoa and thus overcomes the major limitation of karyotyping spermatozoa after penetration of zona-free hamster oocytes. The simultaneous hybridization of two or more chromosome-specific probes to spermatozoa and subsequent detection of the bound probes using different fluorescent detection systems enables two or more chromosomes to be localized simultaneously in the same spermatozoon and provides a technique for undertaking reasonable estimates of aneuploidy. The most commonly used probes are those which bind to the centromeric region of specific chromosomes. Most studies to date have concentrated on estimating aneuploidy in spermatozoa from normospermic men, although reports are beginning to appear on aneuploidy in spermatozoa from subfertile and infertile men. Multi- probe FISH studies have generally reported disomy (hyperhaploidy) estimates of 0.05-0.2% per chromosome. There is preliminary evidence that some chromosomes such as X, Y and 21 are predisposed towards higher rates of non-disjunction during spermatogenesis. There are also suggestions of inter-donor variability in aneuploidy frequencies for specific chromosomes, although this requires confirmation in larger studies. While FISH is clearly a powerful technique that has many applications in reproductive medicine, it must also be realized that it does have limitations and the technology itself is still evolving and has yet to be fully validated on spermatozoa.