Skin problems after a tsunami

BACKGROUND: On December 26, 2004, the biggest earthquake for 40 years, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, triggered a tsunami that pounded the coastal areas of South Asia and East Africa. The effects of the tsunami on skin conditions have not been evaluated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of the tsunami on skin conditions by evaluating the skin problems of patients presenting at hospitals after the tsunami. METHODS: Between 5 and 25 January 2005, two dermatologists evaluated patients who complained of skin problems at an outpatient clinic and emergency room of a general hospital in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, Indonesia. RESULTS: The total number of patients that presented during the study period was 235 (131 males and 104 females), and they had a total of 265 skin problems. In terms of age distribution, most subjects were in their fourth decade (23.0%), followed by the third (22.6%) and fifth decade (16.6%). The most prevalent skin problems were infections-infestations (32.5%), followed by eczemas (29.8%) and traumatic skin disorders (29.4%). In males, traumatic skin disorders were most common. The great majority of infection-infestation cases involved superficial fungal infections. Contact dermatitis accounted for three-quarters of eczema cases, and mainly involved the arms (40.0%) and legs (27.1%). The majority of traumatic skin disorders were lacerations, punctures and penetrations, and the feet (44.7%) and hands (18.8%) were most frequently affected. CONCLUSIONS: Unhygienic conditions, exposure to a hazardous environment and contact with various objects during and after the tsunami probably increased the prevalence of infections-infestations, traumatic skin disorders and contact dermatitis. To prevent these problems and associated secondary bacterial infections, health-related education and early medical management are required.     

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.     

Altered central micro-opioid receptor binding after psychological trauma.

BACKGROUND: Functional neuroimaging studies have detected abnormal limbic and paralimbic activation to emotional probes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but few studies have examined neurochemical mechanisms that underlie functional alterations in regional cerebral blood flow. The mu-opioid neurotransmitter system, implicated in responses to stress and suppression of pain, is distributed in and is thought to regulate the function of brain regions that are implicated in affective processing. METHODS: Here we examined the micro-opioid system with positron emission tomography and the micro-opioid receptor-selective radiotracer [11C] carfentanil in 16 male patients with PTSD and two non-PTSD male control groups, with (n = 14) and without combat exposure (n = 15). Differences in micro-opioid receptor binding potential (BP2) were detected within discrete limbic and paralimbic regions. RESULTS: Relative to healthy controls, both trauma-exposed groups had lower micro-opioid receptor BP2 in extended amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and dorsal frontal and insular cortex but had higher BP2 in the orbitofrontal cortex. PTSD patients exhibited reduced BP2 in anterior cingulate cortex compared with both control groups. Micro-opioid receptor BP2 in combat-exposed subjects without PTSD was lower in the amygdala but higher in the orbitofrontal cortex compared with both PTSD patients and healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings differentiate the general response of the micro-opioid system to trauma from more specific changes associated with PTSD.     

Incidence of Type 2 diabetes in England and its association with baseline impaired fasting glucose: the Ely study 1990-2000.

AIM: To determine the incidence of Type 2 diabetes and to examine the effect of different cut-points for impaired fasting glucose (IFG) on diabetes incidence. METHODS: Population-based longitudinal study (1990-2000) with clinical, anthropometric and biochemical measurements, including an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), in 1040 non-diabetic adults aged 40-69 years at baseline. Baseline glucose status was defined as normoglycaemia < 5.6, IFG-lower 5.6-6.0 and IFG-original 6.1-6.9 mmol/l. The all-IFG group included fasting glucose values of 5.6-6.9 mmol/l. RESULTS: The 10-year cumulative incidence of diabetes was 7.3 per 1000 person-years. Diabetes incidence was 2.4 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2, 4.8], 6.2 (4.0, 9.8) and 17.5 (12.5, 24.5) per 1000 person-years in those with normoglycaemia, IFG-lower and IFG-original, respectively. Compared with normoglycaemia, the age/sex-adjusted risk [hazard ratio (HR) and 95% CI] for incident diabetes was greatest in the IFG-original category (HR 6.9; 3.1, 15.2) and increased to a lesser degree in the IFG-lower (HR 2.5; 1.1, 5.7) and all-IFG categories (HR 4.1; 1.9, 8.7). When adjusted for confounding factors, the magnitude and direction of associations persisted, with HR 1.9, 4.4 and 2.9, for the categories IFG-lower, IFG-original and all-IFG, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes incidence is more strongly related to IFG defined as fasting glucose between 6.1 and 6.9 mmol/l than to the lower category of 5.6-6.0 mmol/l, or entire range of 5.6-6.9 mmol/l. Future studies should examine the association of IFG with cardiovascular outcomes, but for diabetes risk our study supports the use of the IFG cut-point at 6.1 mmol/l.     

维甲酸硅油的视网膜毒性实验研究

目的：了解维甲酸硅油对视网膜是否产生毒性。 方法：12只新西兰白兔的24只眼，随机分为3组，行气体压迫玻璃体手术3天后，分别向玻璃体腔内注入硅油(4只眼)、5μg/ml维甲酸硅油(10只眼)、10μg/ml维甲酸硅油(10只眼)各
0.5m1，用检眼镜、光漳和电镜检查来观察视网膜变化情况。 结果：注入硅油28天后，未发现各浓度的维甲酸硅油对视网膜产生毒性作用。结论：浓度为5、10μg/ml的维甲酸硅油注入玻璃体腔4周，对视网膜不产生毒性作用。 （中华眼底病杂志，1997，13：81-82）     

Overexpression/amplification of HER-2/neu is uncommon in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND： Hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC） is one of the most prevalent fatal cancers in the world. Despite advances in early diagnosis and improvements in surgical techniques, the survival of patients with HCC even after resection is poor because of the high incidence of recurrences. Therefore, the identification of prognostic factors may be helpful in the development of new treatment protocols. AIMS： To investigate HER-2/neu status in HCC by immunohistochemistry （IHC） and fluorescence in situ hybridisation （FISH）, and to explore the possibility of using trastuzumab in the treatment of HCC. METH ODS： Eight hundred and sixty eight surgical samples from patients with primary HCC were examined for their HER-2/neu status. IHC for HER-2/neu was performed with the HercepTest kit; FISH analysis was performed with the PathVysion HER-2 DNA probe kit. The correlations between HER-2/neu overexpression and clinicopathological characteristics were analysed statistically. RESULTS： HER-2/neu overexpression was detected in 21 （2.42%） of the 868 primary HCCs. Only one specimen showed HER-2/neu gene amplification by FISH. No significant associations were found between HER-2/neu overexpression and the clinicopathological parameters. CONCLUSIONS： There is a low frequency of HER-2/neu overexpression/amplification in HCC. There appears to be no role for HER-2/neu as a prognostic marker and no benefit of anti-HER-2/neu trastuzumab treatment in patients with HCC.     

青蒿知母汤治疗恶性肿瘤长期发热34例

恶性肿瘤患者发热较为常见,其发生有多方面的原因.临床上多使用糖皮质激素或非甾类解热镇痛消炎药治疗,有一定疗效但不良反应多.我们使用自制青蒿知母口服液治疗恶性肿瘤患者发热,取得满意疗效,现报道如下.     

Evaluation of four elastomeric interocclusal recording materials

Background: The fabrication of dental prosthesis requires the transfer of interocclusal records from patient's mouth to semiadjustable articulators using different kinds of recording media. Any inaccuracy in these interocclusal records leads to occlusal errors in the final prosthesis. This study was conducted to evaluate the dimensional changes occurring in the interocclusal recording material over a given period of time and the material's resistance to compression during the cast mounting on the articulator.     

Triptolide inhibits T cell activation and proliferation via multiple pathways

Triptolide is potent immunosuppressive has been reported to inhibit autoimmunity, compound isolated from Chinese herbal medicine. Triptolide allograft attributed to the suppression of T cells via NF - kB rejection and GVHD, and its efficacy was previously pathway and apoptosis. In the present study, we detailedly analyzed Triptolide＇ s function on murine primary T cell. We found that Triptolide could inhibit T cell activation and proliferation by dramatically down - regulating cell division and cell cycle. Triptolide inhibited T cell activation in a dose- dependent manner, and the inhibition was mediated by both NF- kB pathway and AP - 1 pathway.