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The naevus of Ota (naevus fusculocoeruleus ophthalmomaxillaris) was first described by the Japanese dermatologist M. T. Ota in 1939. It has a reported incidence of 0.2% to 1% in the Japanese population. It usually occurs in the skin innervated by the first or second branch of the trigeminal nerve. The naevus comprises dermal melanocytes and is congenital or acquired during adolescence. Commonly associated lesions include scleral melanocytosis and other ocular manifestations as well as lesions of the tympanic membrane, oral and intranasal mucosa and leptomeninges. Diseases associated with Ota's naevus in rare cases are openangle glaucomas and melanoma. The naevus of Ota in Europeans is a rare manifestation. We report the very rare case of a bilateral naevus of Ota associated with enoral melanocytosis in a white European person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acne and androgenetic alopecia are linked to androgen effects and therefore should improve following topical application of antiandrogens. We present a new antiandrogen prodrug, RU 58841-myristate (RUM) for topical therapy. Almost devoid of affinity to the androgen receptor, as derived from investigations in the mouse fibroblast cell line 29 +/GR +, RUM is rapidly metabolised to the potent antiandrogen RU 58841 by cultured human foreskin fibroblasts and keratinocytes, male occipital scalp skin dermal papilla cells, and by cells of the sebaceous gland cell line SZ95. In order to improve a specific targeting of the hair follicle, RUM was loaded on solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), which are already known to support dermal targeting effects. Physically stable RUM loaded SLN were produced by hot homogenization. Penetration/permeation studies carried out using the Franz diffusion cell proved only negligible permeation of reconstructed epidermis and excised porcine skin within 6 h, implying a more topical action of the drug. Targeting to the hair follicle using SLN was visualised by fluorescence microscopy, following the application of Nile Red labelled SLN to human scalp skin. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) allowed to detect intact silver labelled SLN in porcine hair follicles of preparations applied to the skin for 24 h. RUM loaded SLN should be considered for topical antiandrogen therapy of acne and androgenetic alopecia.

Background: Zileuton, a 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor, reduces the number of inflammatory lesions in moderate acne and inhibits the synthesis of sebaceous lipids., Objective: To detect whether zileuton directly reduces sebum synthesis., Methods: A 40-year-old female with mild disseminated sebaceous gland hyperplasia and seborrhea was treated with zileuton 4 x 600 mg/day over 2 weeks, was followed-up for 6 weeks after discontinuation of zileuton and was re-treated with low-dose isotretinoin 10 mg/2nd day over 5 weeks. Casual skin surface lipids and sebum synthesis were determined., Results: Under treatment with zileuton increased casual skin surface lipids were normalized and synthesis of facial sebum was decreased. Six weeks after discontinuation of treatment casual skin surface lipids were increased again and synthesis of sebum returned to baseline. Subsequent low-dose isotretinoin treatment led to similar changes of casual skin surface lipids and sebum synthesis with zileuton already after 2 weeks., Conclusion: Zileuton directly inhibits sebum synthesis in a transient manner with a potency similar to low-dose isotretinoin at least in our patient.

In order to obtain a persuasive explanation for the beneficial clinical effect of cryotherapy on keloids, we developed a reproducible model to apply freezing temperatures on cell cultures, and investigated their influence on proliferation, viability, synthetic activity and differentiation of dermal fibroblasts in vitro. Cell cultures were established from 13 untreated keloids and 10 healthy skin specimens matched for age and skin localization to the donors. No significant influence of cell freezing on the proliferation rates of both keloidal and normal fibroblasts was documented, but mechanical cell destruction with a wide variation in lethality rates (29% average lethal effect on keloidal fibroblasts and 41% on normal ones) was observed. When comparing specimens of keloidal and normal tissue derived from the same four donors, the keloidal fibroblasts were similar regarding their synthetic activity but presented enhanced tenascin-C expression compared with the normal fibroblasts. After cryotherapy, delayed collagen III increase was detected in both cell types (P = 0.03). The collagen II/collagen I ratio increased from 1.6 to 2.8 in the keloidal and only from 1.9 to 2.2 in the normal fibroblasts after subcultivation. Normal fibroblasts exhibited a significantly lasting increase in fibronectin synthesis after freezing (P = 0.03). The intensity of staining against tenascin-C was decreased in five of nine keloidal fibroblast cultures after cryotherapy (P < 0.05) but increased in four of five normal fibroblast cultures (P = 0.016), so that the intensity of tenascin-C staining after freezing became identical in both cell types. Immunoblot studies in four patients and two controls confirmed a temporary decrease of tenascin-C in keloidal but not in normal fibroblasts immediately after freezing. Significantly decreased staining with two markers of myogenic differentiation, myosin in keloidal fibroblasts (P = 0.002) and desmin (P = 0.007) in normal fibroblasts, could also be detected after treatment. In summary, with the help of a model for controlled cell freezing in vitro, cryotherapy was found to modify collagen synthesis and differentiation of keloidal fibroblasts.

Gardner syndrome, a phenotypic variant of familial adenomatous polyposis, is characterized by the classical clinical triad of skin and soft tissue tumours, osteomas and intestinal polyposis, but disease patterns with pairs of these findings have also been reported. Different mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene have been shown to be associated with Gardner syndrome disease phenotypes. A 36-year-old patient presented with multiple epidermal cysts on the face, left ear lobe and neck, and the possible diagnosis of Gardner syndrome was based on the additional findings of two classical osteomas in the left radius and ulna and a cold non-malignant nodule of the thyroid gland. Intestinal polyposis was lacking at the time of examination. Major deletions but not microdeletions were excluded by a cytogenetic analysis with 650 chromosomal bands per haploid set. Systematic sequencing of the entire coding region of the APC gene (> 8500 bp) of the patient and five healthy controls was also performed. As a results, new APC gene polymorphisms were identified in exons 13 [A545A (A/G)] and 15 [G1678G (A/G), S1756S (G/T), P1960P (A/G)]. We also detected D1822V (A/T) which has recently been reported to be potentially related to colorectal carcinoma, and genotyped 194 randomly chosen healthy individuals from the Glasgow area for this as well as for the above variants in exons 13 and 15. Interestingly, of the 194 controls, 112 carried the DD (57.7%), 71 the DV (36.6%), and the remaining 11 (5.7%), including our patient, the VV genotype. It is therefore unlikely that APC D1822V serves as an important marker for colorectal carcinoma. In conclusion, we failed to identify obvious germline candidate mutations in > 8500 bp of the coding region of the APC gene in a patient with multiple epidermal cysts, osteomas and a thyroid gland nodule; major chromosomal deletions were excluded. Therefore, we assume that only the presence of intestinal polyposis is a marker for Gardner syndrome.

In mammalian epidermis, the level of beta-catenin signaling regulates lineage selection by stem cell progeny. High levels of beta-catenin stimulate formation of hair follicles, whereas low levels favor differentiation into interfollicular epidermis and sebocytes. In transgenic mouse epidermis, overexpression of beta-catenin leads to formation of hair follicle tumors, whereas overexpression of N-terminally truncated Lef1, which blocks beta-catenin signaling, results in spontaneous sebaceous tumors. Accompanying overexpression of beta-catenin is up-regulation of Sonic hedgehog (SHH) and its receptor, Patched (PTCH/Ptch). In DeltaNLef1 tumors Ptch mRNA is up-regulated in the absence of SHH. We now show that PTCH is up-regulated in both human and mouse sebaceous tumors and is accompanied by overexpression of Indian hedgehog (IHH). In normal sebaceous glands IHH is expressed in differentiated sebocytes and the transcription factor GLI1 is activated in sebocyte progenitors, suggesting a paracrine signaling mechanism. PTCH1 and IHH are up-regulated during human sebocyte differentiation in vitro and inhibition of hedgehog signaling inhibits growth and stimulates differentiation. Overexpression of DeltaNLef1 up-regulates IHH and stimulates proliferation of undifferentiated sebocytes. We present a model of the interactions between beta-catenin and hedgehog signaling in the epidermis in which SHH promotes proliferation of progenitors of the hair lineages whereas IHH stimulates proliferation of sebocyte precursors.

Intrinsic skin aging is determined primarily by genetic factors and hormonal status. It reflects the same degenerative process seen in other organs. Skin function is one of the parameters most influenced by aging. The hormonal influences include reduced pituitary, adrenal and gonadal secretion. The hormonal changes of aging lead to the development of a specific body and skin phenotype. Individuals in developed lands spend up to a third of their life (women-post-menopausal) or perhaps 20 years (men-partial androgen deficiency of the aging man, PADAM) with oestrogen or androgen deficiency. Other hormones whose levels decrease with aging include melatonin, growth hormone (GH), dehydroepiandrosterone und insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Since the skin not only fulfils a protective function for the organism but is also an active peripheral endocrine organ, which even releases effective hormones in the circulation, local hormone substitution could become interesting in the future.

Background: Although several immunological abnormalities have been demonstrated in Behçet's disease (BD), the exact mechanism of the inflammatory changes occurring is still unknown. Antigen-presenting cells, such as mononuclear phagocytes, play a major role in the regulation of immune-mediated as well as of non-specific inflammation., Objective: To investigate the serum activity of patients with BD on antigen and chemokine expression of human macrophages in vitro., Methods: Serum of 15 patients (8 women, 7 men; mean age 33 +/- 10 years) with BD was incubated with cultured macrophages isolated from peripheral blood of healthy volunteers. Macrophages maintained in patients' serum, fetal calf serum with/without dexamethasone and interleukin (IL)-4 or gamma-interferon were investigated for alternative macrophage-activation-associated CC-chemokine 1 (AMAC-1) and IL-8 mRNA expression by Northern blotting. In addition, cytocentrifuge macrophage preparations were stained with monoclonal antibodies against proteins indicating alternative (anti-inflammatory) macrophage activation, such as MS-1 high-molecular-weight protein (MS-1-HMWP), RM3/1 antigen (CD163) and 25F9, as well as classical (pro-inflammatory) macrophage activation, such as CD11c, class I receptor binding the Fc part of IgG (FcgammaRI: CD64) and class III receptor binding the Fc part of IgG (FcgammaRIII: CD16)., Results: Macrophages treated with patients' serum showed neither AMAC-1 expression nor staining with monoclonal antibodies for MS-1-HMWP, CD163 or 25F9. Concomitant treatment with IL-4/dexamethasone up-regulated significantly the expression of CD163. In contrast, IL-8 mRNA expression and staining for CD11c and CD64 were strongly positive after treatment with serum of patients with BD. CD64 positivity and IL-8 mRNA expression were more prominent in patients with active BD than in patients with inactive disease., Conclusion: Taken together, our results indicate that serum of patients with BD induces classical (pro-inflammatory) activation of human peripheral blood macrophages in vitro. Our findings suggest that serum factor(s) may be responsible for inflammatory changes in BD., (Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel)