Ronald M. Reisner

Lymphocyte transformation in subjects with nodulo‐cystic acne

Patients with severe nodulo‐cystic acne are known to have elevated serum antibody levels and increased immediate hypersensitivity reactions to Propionibacterium acnes. This organism is the predominant bacterium in normal pilosebaceous follicles of human skin, and can be consistently isolated from pustular lesions in acne. Previously it had been observed that delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions to P. acnes were negative in patients with acne. The present study investigated the proliferative response of lymphocytes from patients with nodulo‐cystic acne to phytohacmagglutinin (PHA) and P. acnes antigen stimulation. The response to PHA stimulation was within normal limits. The response to P. acnes antigen showed a significant increase over control values obtained by testing lymphocytes from acne‐free subjects. Thus cell mediated immunity to P. acnes may be present in subjects with severe inflammatory acne. These findings raise the possibility that reactions to P. acnes may contribute to intensifying the inflammatory response in acne lesions.

Differences in the lipid constituents of sebum from pre-pubertal and pubertal subjects

Significant differences have been reported in the composition of skin surface lipid in pre‐pubertal subjects when compared to pubertal subjects. Analytical studies were performed to determine whether group mean changes in the fatty acid composition of the triglyceride and wax ester fractions of sebum could be detected in pre‐pubertal versus pubertal subjects. Twenty males (ages 6–9), twenty females (ages 6–9) and twelve teenagers (ages 11–16) were studied. Skin surface lipid was examined by densitometry and gas chromatography.

The hormonal induction of alkyl glycerol, wax and alkyl acetate synthesis in the preputial gland of the mouse

Abstract The preputial gland of the mature male mouse produces wax, alkyl glycerols, alkyl acetates and triglycerides. Triglycerides and sterol esters are the principal components of the gland of the immature mouse. Analyses of the gland lipids from various animals showed that variations in the time of appearance and amounts of the different lipid classes could be correlated with the age and sex of the mice from which the preputial glands were obtained. Administration of testosterone propionate to female mice, immature male mice or to mature male mice castrated at 2–3 weeks of age caused marked synthesis and accumulation of lipids containing fatty alcohol moieties, i.e . alkyl glycerols, waxes and alkyl acetates in the preputial glands. Incorporation of label from [6- 14 C]glucose into all lipid fractions of the glands increased after testosterone administration; however, the incorporation was markedly enhanced in the wax and alkyl glyceryl phosphatidyl ethanolamine fractions.

The treatment of systemic mycoses with orally administered pimaricin: preliminary report.

Pimaricin is a new crystalline antifungal antibiotic derived from Slreptomyces natalensis, originally isolated from a soil sample obtained near Pietermaritzburg, Natal, Union of South Africa. I ts chemical and physical properties have been characterized by Struyk et a1.l and by Dekker and Ark.* It is a tetraene antibiotic and is related to, but not identical with, rimocidin, antimycoin, nystatin, and chromin. These tetraenes are members of a larger group of antibiotics, the majority of which possess fungicidal activity and include such compounds as ampho tericin, trichomycin, ascosin, and candicidin. An empirical formula of C30-32H46-60N013 was assigned early to pimaricin.’ More recently, however, Patrick et ~ 1 . ~ have elucidated the structural formula of p i m a r i ~ i n ~ . ~ (see formula below), the first of the many polyene antifungal antibiotics to have its structure so determined:

Incontinentia Pigmenti A Systemic Genodermatosis with Striking Cutaneous Findings

An infant with IP, here presented, typifies the early course of this syn drome. Diagnosis can and should be made in the first stage by a combina tion of the clinical appearance and the characteristic histology. The physician must be aware of the frequent associated manifestations, so that he may deal as effectively as possible with them. He should inform and reassure the parents as to the future self-limited course of all of the cutaneous lesions. Genetic counseling is another important responsibility.

Effect of TCDD on the density of Langerhans cells in murine skin

Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a prototype for a group of toxic polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons. We have studied the effect of TCDD on skin, specifically the difference in cutaneous response of congenic haired (hr/+) and hairless (hr/hr) mice. Topical application of 0.6 microgram of TCDD induces epidermal hyperplasia/hyperkeratinization in the skin of hr/hr mice, but does not affect the epidermis of congenic hr/+ littermates. Suppression of various parameters of the immune response has been found to be another effect of TCDD exposure in experimental animals. In the present study, we investigated the effect of topical treatment with TCDD on the density of epidermal immune cells, the Langerhans cells (LC), in the skin of hr/hr and hr/+ mice. Results showed that TCDD-induced epidermal hyperplasia/hyperkeratinization in skin of hr/hr mice is accompanied by an increase in the density of LC. In the skin of hr/+ mice, in which TCDD exposure does not induce hyperplastic changes, LC densities are not affected. The increase in LC densities in TCDD-treated hr/hr mouse skin did not result in increased sensitivity of the skin to contact hypersensitization with dinitrofluorobenzene, as measured by changes in ear thickness. When hr/hr murine skin was grafted into skin of hr/+ mice and the entire dorsal skin (including the graft) treated with TCDD, LC were increased in the grafted skin, but not in the surrounding hr/+ skin. Conversly, when hr/+ murine skin was grafted into hr/hr mice and both treated with TCDD, there was no increase in the density of LC in the grafted hr/+ skin. Concomitant treatment of hairless mice with TCDD and with indomethacin did not affect the increase in the density of LC induced by TCDD treatment alone. These findings suggest that TCDD-induced epidermal changes in hr/hr murine skin involve production of factors which mediate the increase in epidermal LC.