A characteristic dermatosis of infancy and childhood has recently been reported as many names, called juvenile plsntar dermatoais, recurrent juvenile eezema of hands and feet, and atopic winter feet in children. However, the clinicsl and epidemiological features of the published cases are strikingly the same The etiology of the diseaee remains unclear. The role of atopy appears to be highly controversial. We have observed 11 patients with juvenile plantar dermatosis and sumrnarized the results as followa: 1. The disease was found mainly in female children (3 boys, 8 girls) between 1 and 18 years old. Duration of the disease ranged from 1 month to 10 years. 2. The lesions occured or were exacerbated dunng the winter in 9 of them. 3. The disease affected symmetrically on the pressure areas of the feet, mainly the forefeet and toes, the lateral margins of the soles, and the heels. Five of our patients also showed the lesions on the hands simultaneously. 4. We have found a high incidence of atopy among the patients or close relative. Nine patients had a personal history of atopy and 5 gatients also had a history of atopy in the first degree relatives. 5. The serum IgE value increased in one of 6 patients determined. From the above clinical findinge, it is evident that juvenile plantar dermatosis is a true localized atopic dermatitis but also a primary irritant contact derrnatitis to which atopics are prone but which may occur in susceptible non-atopics.
Adolescent ; Child ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Female ; Foot ; Hand ; Heel ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Incidence ; Skin Diseases* ; Toes

We described here a case of hyperkeratosis of the nipple and areola. A 23-year- old woman had a verrucous thickening and brownish discoloration on her right nipple and areola that had been present for 4 yeare. The only symptom was an intermittent mild itching sensation. The patient had no other additioa.al hyperkeratotic conditians. She was not married and had never had a pregnancy. Riopsy spccimen showed papillomatous elongation of the epidermis and edema, of the underlying papillary eonnective tissue. The epidermis was parakeratotic and hyperpigmented, and showed focal intercellular and intracellular edema. The present case seems to be the nevoid form by the Levy-Franckel classification. The world literature was briefly reviewed.
Classification ; Edema ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Nipples* ; Pregnancy ; Pruritus ; Sensation

A case of hereditary papulotranslucent acrokeratoderma, a variant of familiaI punctate keratoderma, is presented. A 20-year-old female patient had a five-year history of persistent, asymptomatic, yellowish-white translucent papules and plaques on the thenar and hypothenar eminences and knuckles of both hands, and on the dorsa of proximal interphalangeal joints of both feet. She also had a vitiligo lesion on the left side of the face of 1.5 years duration. Her elder brother also had similar papular skin lesions on both hands and feet. Histologic section of a papule from the right thenar eminence showed marked hyperkeratosis, hypergranulosis, and acanthosis of the epidermis.
Female ; Humans

No abstract available.
Hemorrhage*

Highly specific and sensitive immunoassay method for soluble human recombinant interleukin-6 (hu rlL-6) was established by two different immunization methods. One is conventional method by Freund's adjuvant method and the other is special method which is directly injected to mouse spleen. Among seven established monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), two typical monoclonal antibodies, designated YB3 (IgG1) and NY2 (IgM), were further characterized. These mAbs highly bound to IL-6, however did not show cross reactivity with IL-1B and IL-2. As the results of ELISA inhibition assay and western blotting method, it was further identified that YB3 and NY2 had high binding specificity with IL-6. And the limiting detection amount of rlL-6 for YB3 was 5 ng/ml and for NY2 was 0.5 ng/ml. Furthermore, N-glycosylated human rlL-6 was also bound to YB3 on ELISA. On the other hand YB-3 furtherly recognized N-glycosylated human rlL-6 by sandwich ELISA method. These mAbs may be of use to diagnose the gynecopathy which contains abortion and preterm labor.
Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal* ; Blotting, Western ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Freund's Adjuvant ; Hand ; Humans ; Immunization ; Immunoassay ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-6 ; Mice ; Obstetric Labor, Premature ; Pregnancy ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spleen

Azithromycin* ; Doxycycline* ; Scrub Typhus*

We studied the association of nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness with general characteristics, exposure concentration, respiratory symptoms, chest x-ray findings, past histories and pulmonary function. We determined bronchial hyperresponsiveness by methacholine challenge test. And we conducted a respiratory symptom questionnaire and performed spirometry on 111 workers occupationally exposed to isocyanates in various industries. About 21.6% of subjects had bronchial hyperresponsiveness. No significant differences were observed between the hyperresponsive and non-responsive group with respect to age, sex, employment period, height, and smoking histories cough and breathlessness were significantly associated with the bronchial hyperresponsiveness. The hyperresponsive group had more experience of bronchitis and asthma in the past than the non-responsive group. The lower FEV1 and FEV1 % were closely related with bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Bronchial hyperrespoosiveness seems to be associated with some of respiratory symptoms, past histories and pulmonary function parameters in workers exposed to isocyanates.
Asthma ; Bronchitis ; Cough ; Employment ; Isocyanates* ; Methacholine Chloride ; Occupations ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Spirometry ; Thorax

OBJECTIVES: Lipocortin-1 (LC-1), a member of annexin family of calcium-binding proteins induced by corticosteroid, originally evoked interest as one of the secondary messengers in the antiinflammatory action of corticosteroid, But the exact mechanism of LC-1 responsible for antiinflammatory effect is still unclear. We investigated the potential role of LC-1 in the effect of corticosteroid on amelioration of collagen induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. METHODS: Four groups of DBA/1j mice were immunized by intradermal injection of 5mg/kg of type 2 collagen with complete Freunds adjuvant which was boostered on day 21 and 42. Group 1 received no treatment and group 2 received 1mg/kg dexamethasone intraperitoneally twice weekly from day 21. Group 3 and 4 were treated with 50 and 0.5microgram/kg of anti LC-1 monoclonal antibody subcutaneously and dexamethasone from day 21 twice weekly, respectively. The prevalence of arthritis and arthritis score were assessed twice weekly. At week 10, we measured serum anticollagen antibody levels and splenic mononuclear cell stimulation indices (SI) to collagen. RESULT: CIA started to develop after 4 weeks of collagen treatment in all groups. All mice of group 1 developed arthritis by the 9 week. Treatment with dexamethasone markedly inhibited arthritis development (P<0.05). Cotreatment of anti LC-1 monoclonal antibody and dexamethasone abolished the antiinflammatory effect of dexamethasone (P<0.05). But there was no significant difference in the serum levels of anticollagen antibody or splenic mononuclear cell SI among the groups. CONCLUSION: These findings support the hypothesis that LC-1 is involved, at least in part, in the antiinflammatory actions of corticosteroid in chronic inflammation, although the mechanism of which is unclear.
Animals ; Arthritis* ; Calcium-Binding Proteins ; Collagen* ; Dexamethasone ; Freund's Adjuvant ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Injections, Intradermal ; Mice ; Prevalence

A randomized comparison group pretest-posttest experimental design was used to quantitatively determine the effects of environmental control measures on patients with allergic rhinitis. Environmental controls included wrapping the mattress with a vinyl cover, washing the top bedding cover with 55 degrees C hot water every two weeks, removal of soft furniture, and wet cleaning of the bedroom floor every day. Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The amount of house dust mites in dust samples collected from the bedroom floor, bedding and mattress, as well as the nasal symptoms of patients, were measured twice at one-month intervals. A significant decrease in house dust mites in dust samples and relief in patients' nasal symptoms were observed in the experimental group who had environmental controls.
Adult ; Animal ; Dust* ; Environment* ; Female ; Human ; Insect Control*/methods ; Male ; Mites* ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/physiopathology*

BACKGROUND: Acute hypoxia tolerance has been evaluated by the time of useful consciousness, subjective symptoms, cardiovascular changes, visual deterioration, psychological performance, and so forth. But these methods are either subjective, lacking strict objectivity, or too demanding to collect sufficient data. Pulse oximeter monitoring has come to be used not only in hospitals but in the aviation environment. This noninvasive oxygen monitoring apparatus warrants a highly objective analysis to investigate acute hypoxia tolerance. METHODS: Eight healthy male volunteers (20-25 years old) were exposed three times to a simulated altitude of 25,000 ft (7,620 m) at intervals of 7 days. We monitored arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) and pulse rate by a pulse oximeter. The duration from taking the mask off to the time of 60% SaO2 was regarded as acute hypoxia tolerance. The venous hemoglobin concentration was measured a day before exposure to hypoxia. A questionnaire on the 14 subjective hypoxic symptoms was obtained after hypobaric chamber training. RESULTS: There were neither differences of acute hypoxia tolerance, hemoglobin concentration, nor pulse rate according to the repeated exposure of hypoxia. Four symptoms of sleepiness, fatigue, flushing and thinking impairment were sustained regardless of repeated exposures to hypoxia. But the incidence of symptoms of ear pain, anxiety, abdominal pain were reduced according to the repeated hypoxia. CONCLUSION: With pulse oximeter monitoring there was no difference between the values of time of 60% SaO2 in repeated exposures to hypoxia. The incidence of some subjective symptoms was reduced according to the repeated exposures to hypoxia.
Abdominal Pain ; Altitude ; Anoxia* ; Anxiety ; Aviation ; Consciousness ; Ear ; Fatigue ; Flushing ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Masks ; Oxygen ; Thinking ; Volunteers ; Surveys and Questionnaires