BACKGROUND: Ultraviolet light induces sunburn, ageing of the skin, pigmentation and even promotes skin cancers. As there has been a recent decrease in the ozone layer surrounding the earth, increasing attention has been given to the effects of ultraviolet light on the skin. Through human epidermis, ultraviolet light is reflected, scattered, absorbed or transmitted. In caucacians, the rate of transmitted ultraviolet light A from the epidermis to the dermis is 50% and the rate of transmitted ultraviolet light B is below 10%. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the transmittance of UVA and UVB on Korean normal epidermis. METHODS: Pure epidermis was obtained from normal human epidermis by suction of blisters in 12 patients with vitiligo. All specimens were irradiated respectively with UVA and UVB and the amount of transmitted energy was measured. RESULTS: 1. The transmittance of UVA energy density by normal epidermis was 47.7+11.2% of irradiated UVA energy. 2. The transmittance of UVB energy density by normal epidermis was 32.4+3.4% of irradiated UVB energy. CONCLUSION: UVA energy transmission through normal epidermis of Korean is less than those of Caucacians but UVB energy transmission through nor mal epidermis of Korean is more than those of Caucacians. It is suggested that this could be an important basic data to study for photoaging and photoprotection in Korean population.
Blister ; Dermis ; Epidermis* ; Humans* ; Pigmentation ; Skin ; Skin Neoplasms ; Stratospheric Ozone ; Suction ; Sunburn ; Ultraviolet Rays ; Vitiligo

No Abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have demonstrated an enhanced skin responsiveness to opiates in atopic subjects. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the skin response to morphine is increased in atopics and to assess the clinical usefulness of morphine skin prick test in diagnosis of allergic diseases. METHOD: Allergy skin prick tests were performed using 55 common allergens, histamine, and morphine in 158 patients with allergic diseases. RESULTS: Wheal and flare sizes for morphine (1mg/mL) were significantly related to and smaller than those for histamine (1mg/mL). Although the proportion of subjects with allergic rhinitis and the level of serum total IgE were not different between responders (wheal >- 2mm) and nonresponders to morphine, the positive response rate to allergens was significantly lower in nonresponders. The flare sizes for morphine were significantly higher in positive allergen test group (A/H ratio >- 0.5). Among positive allergen test group, the subjects with atopy score >- 5 showed a larger flare size for morphine than those with atopy score < 5 while the sizes for histamine were not different. CONCLUSION: Morphine skin prick test is helpful for detecting false negative responses to allergens, and morphine skin test responses are increased in highly atopic patients probably due to enhanced mast cell releasability.
Allergens ; Diagnosis* ; Histamine ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Immunoglobulin E ; Mast Cells ; Morphine* ; Rhinitis ; Skin Tests ; Skin*

No abstract available.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by hyperproliferation and incomplete differentiation of keratinocytes. Mounting scientific evidence suggests that this epidermal alteration occurs as a response to an immunologic injury, giving rise to the concept that psoriasis is a skin-specific autoimmune disease. Indeed, many effective therapeutic agents for psoriasis are immunosuppressive in nature, lending further support to this view. The well known ability of calcipotriene and 1,25(OH)2D3 to inhibit keratinocyte proliferation and to induce its differentiation is certainly compatible with their antipsoriatic actions. In addition, topical calcipotriene has been shown to correct, at least in part, the local cytokine imbalance observed in psoriatic lesions. Interleukin (IL)-8 is a proinflammatory cytokine that is chemotactic for polymorphonuclear cells and T lymphocytes. It also promotes proliferation of keratinocytes and endothelial cells. In lesional psoriatic skin, IL-8 and its receptor levels are markedly elevated. IL-10 is an immunosuppressive cytokine, which as a type2 (T2) cytokine antagonizes cell-mediated immunity. Indeed, IL-10 administration has been shown to improve psoriasis. Topical calcipotriene markedly reduces elevated levels of IL-8 while simultaneously increasing IL-10 levels in lesional skin of psoriasis. These changes occur very early, within the first three days of therapy, prior to significant clinical improvement of psoriasis, indicating that the cytokine alterations are not simply secondary to resolution of psoriatic plaques. Therefore, elaboration of the immunosuppressive cytokine IL-10 and a concomitant reduction in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-8 may mediate the immunopharmacological improvementin psoriasis by calcipotriene.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Cholecalciferol ; Cytokines ; Endothelial Cells ; Immunity, Cellular ; Immunosuppression ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-8 ; Interleukins ; Keratinocytes ; Psoriasis ; Skin Diseases ; Skin* ; T-Lymphocytes ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins*

Regardless of the any cause leg ulcers are painful and inconvenient to patients and present clinical and economic problems due to their chronicity. Conventional skin grafts, cultured allogenic epidermis, and cultured autologous epidermis have been used for the treatment of leg ulcers. In a twenty-year-old woman with leg ulcers, autologous pure epidermal sheets were obtained from the lower chest by means of suction blisters and grafted to the leg ulcers. All lesions were healed completely in 20 days after grafting. The donor sites showed slight postinflammatory hyperpigmentations without scars. The autologous epidermal graft using suction blisters appears to be a useful method for the treatment of leg ulcers, with no immunologic rejection, no need for cultivation and anesthesia, no desiccation, and no scars on the donor sites.
Anesthesia ; Blister* ; Cicatrix ; Desiccation ; Epidermis ; Female ; Humans ; Leg Ulcer* ; Leg* ; Methods ; Skin ; Suction* ; Thorax ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants*

No abstract available.

STUDY DESIGN: Case report OBJECTIVES: To report a case of Brown-Séquard syndrome after blunt cervical trauma. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Brown-Séquard syndrome is a rare disease characterized by hemisection of the spinal cord, and it shows the best prognosis of the various types of incomplete spinal cord injuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A patient with Brown-Séquard syndrome that occurred after a traffic accident was followed up for 2 years and 6 months. RESULTS: We observed normal recovery of motor strength, but sensory impairment and deep tendon hyperreflexia remained. CONCLUSIONS: Brown-Séquard syndrome is known to have a good prognosis, but in this case, the neurological abnormality did not fully recover; therefore, we report this rare case and present a review of the literature.
Accidents, Traffic* ; Cervical Vertebrae ; Female ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Reflex, Abnormal ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Tendons

No abstract available.
Meningitis, Aseptic*

No abstract available.
Meningitis, Cryptococcal*