Low risk of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation in skin types 4 and 5 after treatment with fractional CO2 laser device

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Hyperpigmentation occurs in more than 37% of dark-skinned subjects treated with a fully ablative CO2 laser device. This study assessed the risk of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) in subjects with skin types 4 and 5 treated once with a specific protocol of treatment using a fractional CO2 laser. METHODS: Seven subjects with photodamaged skin received a single facial treatment using a fractional CO2 laser. Anesthesia was limited to a lidocaine and prilocaine cream for 1 hour before the single-pass treatment. Subjects were evaluated for improvement and PIH on alternate days for 14 days, and at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months posttreatment. RESULTS: All subjects achieved improvement in their specific skin conditions and in skin texture. Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation was not observed in any subject. Four subjects experienced no pain during treatment, while 3 reported mild pain. Recovery was associated with minimal pain and itching. CONCLUSION: In dark-skinned subjects, fractional CO2 laser treatment and topical anesthesia subjectively improves common skin conditions without PIH.     

Diagnostic value of <Superscript>99m</Superscript>Tc-ethambutol scintigraphy in tuberculosis: compared to microbiological and histopathological tests

Objective

Tuberculosis (TB) still remains the world’s endemic infection. TB affects the lungs and any part of the body other than the lung. The diagnosis of TB has not changed much over the decades. Ethambutol is one of the first line treatments for TB. It can be labeled using ^99mTc. ^99mTc-ethambutol will be accumulated in the site of TB lesion and can be imaged using gamma camera. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of ^99mTc-ethambutol scintigraphy in detecting and localizing of TB.

Methods

Retrospective cross-sectional study was done. Subjects were patients suspected of having TB infection. Whole body and SPECT-CT imaging at the suspected area was done 1 and 4 h after injection of 370–555 MBq ^99mTc-ethambutol. ^99mTc-ethambutol scintigraphy was analyzed visually. The results were compared with that of histopathological or microbiological tests. Statistical analysis was done to determine the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy.

Results

One hundred and sixty-eight subjects were involved in this study. There were 110 men and 58 women with mean age of 34.52?±?11.94 years. There were concordance results in 156 (92.86%) and discordant in 12 (7.14%) subjects between ^99mTc-ethambutol scintigraphy and histopathological or microbiological result. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of ^99mTc-ethambutol scintigraphy in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB were 93.9, 85.7, 93.9, 85.7 and 91.4%, respectively, for extra-pulmonary TB 95.5, 77.8, 97.9, 63.6, and 85.1%, respectively, and for total tuberculosis 94.9, 83.3, 96.3, 78.1 and 92.8%, respectively. There was no side effect observed in this study.

Conclusion

^99mTc-ethambutol scintigraphy is a useful diagnostic imaging technique to detect and localize intra- and extra-pulmonary TB. It is safe to be performed even in pediatric patient. Consuming ethambutol less than 2 weeks did not influence the result.

     

Comparative performance of ELISA and dot blot assay for TSH‐receptor antibody detection in Graves’ disease

BackgroundGraves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune disease, and it accounts for major cases of hyperthyroidism. Antibody against thyroid‐stimulating hormone receptor/TSHR (TRAb) is responsible for hyperthyroidism and is considered as a diagnostic marker for GD. Therefore, we developed a recombinant protein of human TSHR‐169 (hTSHR‐169), which was specifically recognized TRAb in the serum of GD patients and then compare the diagnostic performance between ELISA and dot blot of TRAb tests for their ability to diagnose GD.Methods20 GD patients and 20 healthy individuals from the Indonesian population were enrolled. TRAb concentration and density were quantified. Comparative analysis was performed using receiver‐operating curve (ROC) analysis.ResultsFor dot blot assay, the minimum concentration to detect TRAb requiring 100 ng of antigen with antiserum diluted at 1:60. For diagnosing GD, the ELISA yielded a higher AUC compared with the dot blot assay (0.95 and 0.85, respectively). Using the recommended cutoff values, the efficiency of both assays was examined by comparing the specificity and sensitivity of the assays to the clinical diagnosis. The ELISA showed 80% and 95%, while the dot blot assay showed 70% and 95% sensitivity and specificity, respectively.ConclusionAlthough the dot blot assay exhibited lower performance than the ELISA method, the dot blot assay is a simple and rapid diagnostic assay that is suitable for diagnosing GD in rural areas, in which healthcare facilities sometimes are not accessible.     

Hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of pentagamavunon-0 against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic injury in rats

ObjectiveTo investigate the hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity of pentagamavunon-0(PGV-0) against CCl₄-induced hepatic injury in rats.MethodsThe groups of animals were administered with PGV-0 at the doses 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kgb.w., p.o. once in a day for 6 days and at day 7 the animals were administrated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl) (20%, 2 mL/kgb.w. in liquid paraffin (i.p.). The effect of PGV-0 on serum transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphates (ALP) and total bilirubin were determined in CCl₄-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Further, the effects of PGV-0 on glutathione (GSH) content, catalase (CAT) and NO free radical scavenging activity also were investigated.ResultsThe results demonstrated that PGV-0 significantly reduced the activity of SGPT, serum ALP and total bilirubin in CCl₄induced rat hepatotoxicity. PGV-0 has effect on the antioxidant and free radical defense system. It prevented the depletion level of GSH and decrease activity of CAT in CCl₄-induced liver injury in rats. PGV-0 also demonstrated the free radical scavenger effects on NO free radical scavenging activity with ES value of 32.32μM.ConculsionAll of our findings suggests that PGV-0 could protect the liver cells from CCl₄-induced liver damages and the mechanism may through the antioxidative effect of PGV-0 to prevent the accumulation of free radicals and protect the liver damage.     

Allogeneic umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell conditioned medium (secretome) for treating posterior cruciate ligament rupture: a prospective single-arm study

Background

Outcomes of the current management of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) rupture are still unsatisfactory. Recent literature demonstrated the efficacy of the paracrine action of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in ligament rupture healing. This study aimed to evaluate the outcome of arthroscopic administration of allogeneic umbilical cord-derived MSC (UC-MSC) conditioned medium (secretome) for the treatment of PCL rupture.

Patients and methods

This is a prospective study including 12 individuals with PCL rupture grade 1 or 2 who were performed arthroscopy and secretome administrations. The functional and radiologic outcome of the knee was examined one year following intervention.

Results

Preoperatively, posterior drawer test revealed three cases of grade 2+ and nine cases of grade 1+, whereas the final follow-up revealed two cases of grade 2+ and ten cases of grade 1+ PCL rupture. At final follow-up, the mean scores for the IKDC, modified Cincinnati, and Lysholm were 90.58 ± 4.30, 90.90 ± 2.15, and 89.42 ± 3.16, respectively. The means of the serial hop tests were 90.33, 94.16, 93.66, and 95.33 for single, triple, crossover, and time hop tests, respectively. Five patients were able to resume competitive sport after an average of 25.8 weeks (25–38). The final MRI analysis revealed that six knees (50%) regained PCL continuity with low signal intensity, five knees (41.6%) returned near-normal PCL continuity, and one knee (8.3%) regained PCL continuity but with deformed outlines.

Conclusions

Short-term follow-up indicated that the secretome generated from allogenic UC-MSC produces excellent functional and radiographic results in grade I-II PCL rupture.

     

A systematic review on Treacher Collins syndrome: Correlation between molecular genetic findings and clinical severity

Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS, OMIM: 154500) is a rare congenital craniofacial disorder that is caused by variants in the genes TCOF1, POLR1D, POLR1C, and POLR1B. Studies on the association between phenotypic variability and their relative variants are very limited. This systematic review summarized the 53 literatures from PubMed and Scopus to explore the potential TCS genotype–phenotype correlations with statistical analysis. Studies reporting both complete molecular genetics and clinical data were included. We identified that the molecular anomaly within TCOF1 (88.71%) accounted for most TCS cases. The only true hot spot for TCOF1 was detected in exon 24, with recurrent c.4369_4373delAAGAA variant is identified. While the hot spot for POLR1D, POLR1C, and POLR1B were identified in exons 3, 8, and 15, respectively. Our result suggested that the higher severity level was likely to be observed in Asian patients harboring TCOF1 variants rather than POLR1. Moreover, common 5-bp deletions tended to have a higher severity degree in comparison to any variants within exon 24 of TCOF1. In summary, this report suggested the relationship between genetic and clinical data in TCS. Our findings could be used as a reference for clinical diagnosis and further biological studies.