Evidence of nail care in a modern mummy from Sermoneta (central Italy)

Since the first exploration, a pair of hands with clear, white nails was visible in a crypt of the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Sermoneta. They belonged to a partially mummified female of 32-40 years of age at death and displayed all but one (right fifth) of the fingernails. At direct and digital dermoscopic examination, these latter appeared well preserved and diffusely coloured in white, with generally intact cuticles. The left fourth fingernail was carefully extracted from its bed and submitted to stereomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), also with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, in order to evaluate its features and establish the chemical composition of white substance, following a conservative approach. Stereomicroscopy allowed to appreciate differences between dorsal (pigmented) and ventral (unstained) surfaces, as well as to closely inspect the nail root and the free edge contours. SEM evidenced further details of such structures, enabling us to select areas for EDX measurements. The following elements were detected: C, O, S, Mg, Cl, K, P and Ca in unstained areas of dorsal surface and in ventral one, indicating the organic structures of the nail; O, S and Ca in the pigmented areas, suggesting the presence of CaSO4 used as a nail polish; Al, Fe and Si in the free edge, referred to remnants from manicure devices. The presence of calcium sulfate (chalk, plaster) allowed the preservation of the fingernails, that often disappear following death. According to the history of nail care, the chemical composition of the polish and the nail shape helped to date back the death of the subject to the very first decades of XX century. At that time women used to stain their nails with tinted powders, buffing them shiny and naturally coloured, even though in this case the procedure could be performed before or after death

Metabolic abnormalities associated with initiation of systemic treatment for psoriasis: evidence from the Italian Psocare Registry.

NCBINCBI Logo Skip to main content Skip to navigation Resources How To About NCBI Accesskeys Sign in to NCBI PubMed US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health Search database Search term Clear input Advanced Help Result Filters Display Settings: Abstract Send to: J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2013 Jan;27(1):e30-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2012.04450.x. Epub 2012 Feb 7. Metabolic abnormalities associated with initiation of systemic treatment for psoriasis: evidence from the Italian Psocare Registry. Gisondi P1, Cazzaniga S, Chimenti S, Giannetti A, Maccarone M, Picardo M, Girolomoni G, Naldi L; Psocare Study Group. Collaborators (368) Author information Abstract OBJECTIVE: To evaluate variations in laboratory parameters and diagnoses of selected clinical conditions up to 16 weeks after starting a new systemic psoriasis treatment for Psocare Registry enrollees. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Italian public referral centres for psoriasis treatment. PATIENTS: First-time recipients (n = 10,539) of continuous systemic psoriasis treatment for at least 16 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Mean variations in (weeks 8 and 16) and proportions of patients reaching a clinically meaningful increase in serum levels (week 16) of total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase and creatinine, as well as week-16 cumulative incidences of new diagnoses of diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. RESULTS: Mean cholesterol and triglyceride levels significantly increased in patients treated with acitretin or cyclosporine. Mean triglyceride levels also increased in efalizumab- and etanercept-treated patients. Mean transaminase values increased in methotrexate-treated patients, and mean aspartate amino transferase levels increased in infliximab-treated patients. The average serum creatinine value increased in cyclosporine-treated patients. Acitretin and cyclosporine were associated with risk of hypercholesterolaemia (odds ratios 1.51 and 1.34) and acitretin with risk of hypertriglyceridaemia (odds ratio 1.43). Methotrexate and infliximab were associated with risk of more than doubling the upper normal aspartate amino transferase (odds ratios 2.06 and 1.87) and alanine amino transferase (odds ratios 2.38 and 1.74) values. The relative risk of developing arterial hypertension and diabetes was increased for patients receiving cyclosporine (odds ratios 3.31 and 2.88). CONCLUSION: Systemic treatments for psoriasis resulted in heterogeneous effects on the parameters analysed

Latent tuberculosis infection in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis: Evidence from the Italian Psocare Registry

Background The nationwide prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in Italian patients with psoriasis has never been investigated.Objectives To estimate the nationwide prevalence of LTBI in Italian patients with psoriasis who are candidates for systemic treatment.Methods Data were obtained from the Psocare Registry on those patients (n = 4946) with age > 18 years, systemic treatment at entry specified and tuberculin skin test (TST) performed according to the Mantoux method. LTBI diagnosis was based on a positive TST result in the absence of any clinical, radiological or microbiological evidence of active tuberculosis.Results Latent tuberculosis infection was diagnosed in 8.3% of patients with psoriasis (409 of 4946). The prevalence of LTBI was lower in patients on biologics than in those on conventional systemic treatments, ranging from 4.3% (19 of 444) of patients on adalimumab to 31% (eight of 26) of those on psoralenultraviolet A (P < 0.05). Independent factors associated with LTBI were male sex [odds ratio (OR) 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-1.62; P = 0.02], age over 55 years (OR 2.93, 95% CI 2.18-3.93; P < 0.001) and being entered into a conventional treatment (OR 3.83, 95% CI 3.10-4.74; P < 0.001). Positive history of tuberculosis was seen in 1% of patients (n = 49).Conclusions The nationwide prevalence of LTBI in Italian patients with psoriasis candidate to systemic treatment is high, and screening is recommended prior to biological treatment