Acta dermato-venereologica
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Acta Derm. Venereol. · Jan 2005
A retrospective epidemiological study on the association of bullous pemphigoid and neurological diseases.
Bullous pemphigoid is a rare chronic recurrent dermatosis that is often reported in association with various neurological diseases. No investigation involving a large number of patients has ever been carried out to demonstrate such an association. ⋯ The results support the hypothesis of an association between bullous pemphigoid, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease on a highly significant statistical basis. The aetiopathogenic mechanisms and the causes that induce the loss of immunological tolerance are not yet understood.
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Acta Derm. Venereol. · Jan 2005
Studies of transforming growth factors beta 1-3 and their receptors I and II in fibroblast of keloids and hypertrophic scars.
Keloids are benign skin tumours occurring during wound healing in genetically predisposed patients. They are characterized by an abnormal deposition of extracellular matrix components, particularly collagen. There is uncertain evidence that transforming growth factor-beta (TGFss) is involved in keloid formation. ⋯ The ratio of TGFssRI/TGFssRII expression was increased in keloids compared with hypertrophic scar and normal skin fibroblasts. As recently supposed, an increased TGFssRI/TGFssRII ratio could promote fibrosis. Therefore our data support a possible role of TGFssRI and TGFssRII in combination with a certain TGFss expression pattern as fibrosis-inducing factors in keloids.
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Acta Derm. Venereol. · Jan 2005
Cutaneous field stimulation with moderate intensity current induces nerve proliferation in rat skin but has no effect on dorsal root ganglia.
Cutaneous field stimulation is used to treat localized itch. The aim of the present study was to determine whether such treatment induces neurochemical changes in the dorsal root ganglia in 30 rats using a pan-neuronal marker protein gene-product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Electrical stimulation using the currents of either 0.13 mA or 0.53 mA--was given under general anaesthesia for 30 min per day for 10 days. ⋯ Only stimulation with 0.53 mA induced an up-regulation of sensory neuron markers in the dorsal root ganglia. The ratio of positive/negative PGP-IR cells was increased by 17% (p = 0.002), the ratio of positive/negative CGRP-IR cells was increased by 12% (p = 0.003) and the ratio of positive/negative VR1-IR cells was likewise increased by 10% (p = 0.008) as compared with the control ganglia. We conclude that serial cutaneous electrical stimulation by a moderate current in rat does not induce neurochemical changes in the dorsal root ganglia.