Toshihiro Mizumoto

Pig-skin epidermal calmodulin: Effects of antagonists of calmodulin on DNA synthesis of pig-skin epidermis

SummaryAlthough epidermal keratinocytes contain significant amounts of calmodulin, the exact role of calmodulin in epidermal biological activity remains to be determined. Pig-skin (epidermal) calmodulin was purified to homogeneity by DEAE/Sepharose- and phenothiazine-affinity-column chromatography. The characteristics of the purified calmodulin proved to be in good agreement with those of calmodulin obtained from other sources. Phenothiazines (trifluoperazine and chlorpromazine), mepacrine, propranolol, and colchicine inhibited the effect of the purified epidermal calmodulin on the calmodulin-deficient phosphodiesterase of bovine heart. These calmodulin antagonists all had inhibitory effects on the thymidine incorporation of pig-skin epidermal keratinocytes. These observations support the assumption that calmodulin might play an important role in epidermal keratinocyte proliferation.

Livedoid vasculopathy; favorable clinical response with low dose warfarin

ejd.2011.1529 Auteur(s) : Satoshi Nakamura1,2 namu@asahikawa-med.ac.jp, Mari Kishibe2, Kaoru Nishi1, Yoshio Hashimoto1, Keiko Takeda2, Toshihiro Mizumoto1, Hajime Iizuka2 1 Asahikawa Kousei Hospital, Department of Dermatology, 1-joudori 24-chome 111, Asahikawa Hokkaido, Japan 2 Asahikawa Medical University, Department of Dermatology, Asahikawa Hokkaido, Japan Livedoid vasculopathy (LV) is a chronic, recurrent, painful skin disorder involving distal lower extremities. LV is induced by coagulation [...]

Two cases of male nipple leiomyoma: idiopathic leiomyoma and gynecomastia-associated leiomyoma.

We describe 2 cases of male nipple leiomyoma. A 70-year-old man had a painful subcutaneous tumor on his left nipple of 6 months duration. Histopathology disclosed dermal spindle cells with oval-shaped nuclei forming interlacing bundles with irregular pattern. Glandular elements were absent. The spindle cells were positive to α-smooth muscle actin, desmin, and vimentin. Estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PrR) were negative. We diagnosed this case as male leiomyoma of the nipple. Another patient was a 61-year-old man with gynecomastia induced by spironolactone of 6 months duration. He also had a painful nodule on his left nipple and histopathology disclosed spindle-shaped tumor cells as in the previous patient. The tumor was accompanied by glandular elements in the deep dermis and subcutaneous tissue, which showed apocrine secretion and were positive for α-smooth muscle actin, ER, and PrR. These glandular elements were interpreted as mammary gland. But ER and PrR stain did not show positive results for leiomyoma in the upper dermis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of male idiopathic and gynecomastia-induced leiomyoma with ER and PrR staining.

The action of topical vitamin A acid on normal epidermis and non-involved epidermis of psoriatics. A morphological and enzymatic study.

Topical application under occlusion of 0.1% Vitamin A Acid (VAA) in polyethylene glycol to the non‐involved skin of psoriatics and to the skin of normal controls resulted in keratolysis, acanthosis, glycogen accumulation, and increased enzyme activity, though the changes are more marked in the former. Those changes occurred during the first week of application and did not progress further, in fact continued application resulted in a biochemical return toward normal.

Levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha, Interleukin-6, and Interferon- Gamma during the Active Phases of Bechet’s Disease, Pustular Psoriasis, Palmoplantar Pustulosis, and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome: A Pilot Study

Inflammatory serum cytokines are produced by lymphocytes and target organs in inflammatory skin diseases. Changes in cytokines fluctuate daily during disease activity. Comparisons of serum cytokine levels, cytokine species, or flow cytometric changes during the disease course might not be adequate. In addition, daily target organ examinations are difficult. In this report, we determined disease-specific cytokine balances by continuously measuring the levels of inflammatory cytokines (Interleukin-6 [IL-6], interferon gamma [IFN-gamma], and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha [TNFalpha, TNF-a]) in patients with Bechet’s Disease (BD), Pustular Psoriasis (PP), Palmoplantar Pustulosis (PPP), and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) during the course of the disease activity. We compared these cytokines in various cutaneous inflammatory diseases activities. Furthermore, participations of inflammatory lymphocytes subsets were considered.

Favorable clinical response by pre-prandial administration of low-dose ciclosporin to severe adult atopic dermatitis

Abstract Although ciclosporin is useful for atopic dermatitis (AD), appropriate dosage and therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) has been performed only by post-prandial ciclosporin administration. We administered ciclosporin pre-prandially to eight severe adult AD patients (four cases of erythrodermic AD, three cases of AD recalcitrant to standard therapy, and one AD case with numerous pruriginous lesions). Blood concentrations of ciclosporin at various dosages were measured and appropriate dosage in terms of therapeutic efficacy was analyzed by using the area under the concentration curve (AUC). AUC was estimated by the C1 (obtained serum concentration of ciclosporin at 1 hour after ciclosporin administration), C2 (concentration of ciclosporin at 2 hours) and C4 (concentration of ciclosporin at 4 hours) concentrations of ciclosporin. The trough levels of ciclosporin with 200 mg/day, 150 mg/day, and 100 mg/day administration were 96.5 ng/ml, 66.4 ng/ml, and 75.3 ng/ml, respectively. The peak serum concentration (Cmax) was obtained at 1 hour (C1) in most cases. The AUC of 0–4 hours (AUC 0–4) were 2099.5 ng · h/ml (200 mg/day), 1782.6 ng · h/ml (150 mg/day) and 1696.2 ng · h/ml (100 mg/day). VAS scores of itching and blood eosinophil counts were decreased significantly by the ciclosporin treatment. Pre-prandial administration of a relatively low dose of ciclosporin for severe atopic dermatitis resulted in a favorable subjective and objective clinical response and the measurement of blood concentration mostly correlated with the effective dosage assessment.

Cutaneous tuberculosis simulating lymphocutaneous sporotrichosis

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Cutaneous Lymphangitis Carcinomatosis Metastasis of Extra-ovarian Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma

© 2012 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/00015555-1450 Journal Compilation

CALMODULIN ACTIVITY IN THE PSORIATIC EPIDERMIS

Recent reports suggest there is a growth‐associated fluctuation of calmodulin content in various tissues. Since psoriatic epidermis is one of the most proliferative epidermal tissues, we studied the calmodulin content of psoriatic involved and uninvolved epidermis.

Reversible Inhibition of Keratinocyte Thymidine Incorporation by the Calmodulin Antagonist, W-7

Although calmodulin has been suggested as an important regulator of keratinocyte proliferation, its precise role remains unknown. We employed a calmodulin antagonist, N‐(6‐aminohexyl)‐5‐chloro‐1‐naphthalenesulfonamide (W‐7), to examine the role of calmodulin on keratinocyte proliferation. N‐(6‐aminohexyl)‐1‐naphthalenesulfonamide (W‐5), a chlorine‐deficient analogue of W‐7 with little anti‐calmodulin activity, was used as the control. W‐7 markedly inhibited thymidine incorporation of pig epidermis at concentrations close to its anti‐calmodulin activity; W‐5 had no effect on the thymidine incorporation. The inhibitory effect of W‐7 was reversible; the removal of W‐7 from the incubation medium resulted in the reinitiation of the thymidine incorporation, suggesting that W‐7 is not a cytotoxic agent. These results are consistent with the view that calmodulin is an essential regulator of keratinocyte proliferation. The epidermal beta‐adrenergic response, which is decreased in various hyperproliferative epidermal abnormalities, was increased in W‐7‐treated hypoproliferative epidermis. The epidermal SOD activity, which is also decreased in the hyperproliferative epidermis, however, was not affected by the W‐7 treatment.