No abstract available.
Ear* ; Pilomatrixoma*

No abstract available.
Photochemotherapy* ; Porokeratosis*

No abstract available.
Poroma* ; Warts*

No abstract available.
Ambulatory Care Facilities* ; Humans ; Outpatients*

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Colloids* ; Humans ; Scalp*

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Merkel Cell* ; Epidermal Cyst* ; Immunosuppression

Castleman's disease is a rare non-neoplastic lymphoproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. It is divided into three histologic subtypes; hyaline-vascular(HV), plasma cell(PC) type and mixed type (HV-PC). It has two clinical expressions. The localized form, which presents as a slow growing mass, has a relatively benign clinical course. The multicentric form is multilocated and holds significant morbidity. The mainstay of treatment of the localized form is surgical resection. The multicentric form requires medical treatment comprising prednisolone and other immunosuppressor drugs. The disease in children seems to have a more favorable course than in adults. We report a 13-year- old boy with Castleman's disease of multicentric form who was successfully treated with prednisolone and intravenous immunoglobulin.
Adult ; Child* ; Giant Lymph Node Hyperplasia* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Lymphoproliferative Disorders ; Male ; Plasma ; Prednisolone*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Compared to other target cells examined for gene therapy, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) have the unique advantages including proximity to blood stream and relative abundance in vasculature. With an ultimate goal of developing VSMC-based therapies for cardiovascular disorders, we explored the utility of VSMC as a target cell for ex vivo gene therapy using a set of retroviral vectors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cultured VSMCs were transduced with replication-defective recombinant retroviruses harboring LacZ, nlsLacZ, mVEGF, mGM-CSF or bacterial CAT reporter. The VSMCs were examined for G418-selection, transduction efficiency, the level of transgene expression, and longevity of gene expression. ResultsVSMCs were readily transduced with different kinds of retroviral vectors. The bacterial neo r gene-transduced VSMCs were successfully selected with G418. The G418-selected VSMCs could express the transduced genes at a level comparable to NIH3T3. The level of transgene expression did not appear to be affected by the increasing number of passages. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate an efficient transduction of VSMCs by retroviral vectors in vitro and an sustained expression of retrovirally transduced genes in VSMCs. VSMCs could be one of the ideal target cells for ex vivo cardiovascular gene therapy employing retroviral vector.
Animals ; Cats ; Gene Expression ; Genetic Therapy* ; Longevity ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Retroviridae ; Rivers ; Transgenes ; Zidovudine

No abstract available.
Compliance* ; Early Detection of Cancer* ; Family Practice* ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Trichophyton rubrum is one of the major pathogens causing dermatophytoses on human. The identification of this species by mycological methods are sometimes difficult and time-consuming. Moreover, suitable methods for subtyping of this species are not established yet. OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to identify and subtype T. rubrum by molecular biological methods. METHODS: Total 65 clinical isolates of T. rubrum were included and classified according to the results of 8 mycological tests. Their identification were done by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Subtyping of this species was performed by analyzing the DNA band patterns produced by amplifying the non-transcribed spacer (NTS) area of ribosomal DNA. RESULTS: The 65 strains of T. rubrum could be classified into 5 phenotypic varieties according to the results of mycological tests. All clinical isolates produced identical band pattern with those of standard strains of T. rubrum by RAPD analysis. Amplification of NTS area produced 13 PCR patterns. CONCLUSION: The confirmative identification of T. rubrum could be done by RAPD analysis regardless of their phenotypic variations. Subtyping of T. rubrum was successfully performed by amplifying NTS area but these PCR patterns were not correlated with their phenotypic characteristics.
DNA ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Tinea ; Trichophyton*