Diphencyprone Induced Vitiligo: A Case Report

Diphencyprone (DCP) is a contact sensitizer which is used to treat dermatological disorders with an immunological origin, such as extensive alopecia areata (AA). Vitiligo is a rare but known side effect of DPCP therapy which is formed in the treatment site or remote areas. In this paper a 37-year-old man developed alopecia totalis with loss of eyebrows and eyelashes who presented some vitiligo patches on his scalp and arm distant from the location of DPCP application and a 42-year-old woman with 25 years history of hair loss and 3 months DPCP application who revealed some vitiligo patches on the scalp with distant to the site of application at the 6th week are reported. Considering the absence of personal and family history of Vitiligo in our two cases, the hypothesis of latent Vitiligo is not proved. The positive patch test in left arm of one of the patients also suggests the direct role of DPCP as the cause of Vitiligo occurrence. As the development of vitiligo by DCP is unpredictable and the depigmentation may persist indefinitely, it is important to inform all patients about this potential adverse effect before starting the treatment

Effect of topical honey application along with intralesional injection of glucantime in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in Iran. Although many treatments have been suggested for this disease, there hasn't been an effective and safe treatment yet. Regarding the healing effect of honey in the chronic ulcers and its reported therapeutic effect in cutaneous leishmaniasis, we performed a study to better evaluate the efficacy of honey in cutaneous leishmaniasis and its final scar.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a prospective clinical trial, 100 patients with confirmed cutaneous leishmaniasis were selected and randomized into 2 groups. Group A were treated with topical honey twice daily along with intralesional injection of glucantime once weekly until complete healing of the ulcer or for maximum of 6 weeks. Group B were treated with intralesional injection of glucantime alone until complete healing of the ulcer or for a maximum of 6 weeks, too. The patients were followed for 4 months. The collected data were analyzed statistically using statistical tests including Chi-square, Mann Whitney and Kaplan – Mayer tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, 45 patients that had cutaneous leishmaniasis were treated with intralesional glucantime alone and 45 patients were treated with topical honey and glucantime . Ten patients left out the study. In the glucantime alone treated group, 32 patients (71.1%) had complete cure whereas in the group treated with both glucantime & topical honey, 23 patients (51.1%) achieved complete cure. This difference was significant statistically (p = 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Further studies to better clarify the efficacy of honey in cutaneous leishmaniasis is needed. We suggest that in another study, the efficacy of honey with standardized level of antibacterial activity is evaluated against cutaneous leishmaniasis.</p

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Review of the prevalence and causes of antimony compounds resistance in different societies review article

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic parasitic disease of major health impact in many parts of the world and is caused by several species of the protozoan parasite Leishmania. Antimonial compounds (i.e glucantime and pentostam) are the first-line treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis with emerging drug resistance as a problem. The control of Leishmania is further complicated by the emergence of drug-resistant parasites. In the clinical settings, resistance to SbV containing drugs is now well established and it was found to occur in South America, Europe, the Middle East and most notably in India. Clinical resistance to organic pentavalent antimonials, in the form of sodium stibogluconate (pentostam) or N-methylglucamine antimoniate (glucantime), has long been recognized. However, it is unknown whether the clinical failure of chemotherapy is attributable to the development of drug resistance mechanisms in the parasite or to a variety of host factors that might also contribute to low drug response. Reported rate of drug-resistance to antimonial compounds in Iran varies from 9.4% to 94.2% and there is not any comprehensive study on this issue. Indeed, in the endemic region treatment with SbV fails in more cases; thus, in general patients infected with resistant parasites are unresponsive although exceptions have been reported. This article aims to review the mechanisms of drug resistance to these compounds. The main resistance factors include genetical, enzymatic, intracellular (such as apoptosis and cytoskeleton changes) and resistance proteins. Also, mechanisms related to drug transport and intracellular activation are discussed. Various methods of drug resistance detection such as culture and molecular methods (i.e polymerase chain reaction) are reviewed. Although the exact mechanism of action glucantime is not clear, it seems that protein and gene factors involved in cellular drug entry are the main causes of drug resistance. Cross-sectional studies on meglumine antimoniate resistance in endemic areas of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran are highly recommended. Also, studies for evaluation of alternatives therapies for antimonial resistant cases are required.&nbsp; &nbsp

Patient satisfaction and efficacy of accent radiofrequency for facial skin wrinkle reduction

Background: Radiofrequency (RF) is a new technique to treat facial wrinkles. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of Accent RF in wrinkle reduction of different areas of the face. Materials and Methods: Patients with mild to severe facial wrinkles were treated with Accent using RF energies of 35-145 W. The average energy used in this study was 83.11 W. Patients received four subsequent weekly RF sessions. Wrinkle improvement was rated by two physicians comparing 6-month post treatment photographs with pretreatment photos. Moreover, patient satisfaction was assessed at 1 and 6 months after the last session of the treatment. Results: A total of 45 women participated in this study. In terms of patient satisfaction one month after the last treatment, 8.9% of the patients declared their dissatisfaction, 53.3% were somehow satisfied, 33.3% were satisfied, and 4.4% were very satisfied. At 6 months, patient satisfaction was as follows: 4.4% dissatisfied, 31.1% somehow satisfied, 46.7% satisfied, and 17.8% very satisfied. Patient satisfaction 6 months after the last treatment was significantly higher than 1 month post treatment (P = 0.006). At 6 months, patient satisfaction was not more than 75% in any treatment areas of the face. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that Accent RF may be considered as a possible effective option for facial skin rejuvenation although its efficacy and safety needs to be evaluated further in randomized controlled trials

Wound healing in animal models: review article

Wound healing and reduction of its recovery time is one of the most important issues in medicine. Wound is defined as disruption of anatomy and function of normal skin. This injury could be the result of physical elements such as&nbsp; surgical incision, hit or pressure cut of the skin and gunshot wound. Chemical or caustic burn is another category of wound causes that can be induced by acid or base contact irritation. Healing is a process of cellular and extracellular matrix interactions that occur in the damaged tissue. Wound healing consists of several stages including hemostasis, inflammatory phase, proliferative phase and new tissue formation which reconstructs by new collagen formation. Wounds are divided into acute and chronic types based on their healing time. Acute wounds have sudden onset and in normal individuals usually have healing process of less than 4 weeks without any residual side effects. In contrast, chronic wounds have gradual onset. Their inflammatory phase is prolonged and the healing process is stopped due to some background factors like diabetes, ischemia or local pressure. If the healing process lasts more than 4 weeks it will be classified as chronic wound. Despite major advances in the treatment of wounds, still finding effective modalities for healing wounds in the shortest possible time with the fewest side effects is a current challenge. In this review different phases of wound healing and clinical types of wound such as venous leg ulcer, diabetic foot ulcer and pressure ulcer are discussed. Also acute wound models (i.e burn wounds or incisional wound) and chronic wound models (such as venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcer, pressure ulcers or bedsore) in laboratory animals are presented. This summary can be considered as a preliminary step to facilitate designing of more targeted and applied research in this area

Comparison the effectiveness of pyruvic acid 50% and salicylic acid 30% in the treatment of acne

Background: Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous follicles and one of the most common skin diseases. The peeling method has been recently found to be effective for acne treatment. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of pyruvic acid 50% and salicylic acid 30% peeling in the treatment of mild to moderate acne. Materials and Methods: In a prospective single-blinded clinical trial, 86 patients with acne were randomly assigned into two groups. In both groups, the routine treatment of acne (topical solution of erythromycin 4%, triclorocarban soap, and sunscreen) were used twice a day for 8 weeks. In addition, salicylic acid 30% for the control group and pyruvic acid 50% for the case group were used. In both groups, acne severity index (ASI) was calculated before and at week 2, 4, 6, and 8 of the treatment. Patient satisfaction was assessed at the end of the treatment. Side effects were recorded using a checklist. Results: In both groups, the reduction in the number of comedones, papules, and ASI were statistically significant (P < 0.001) in the course of treatment. However, it was not significant regarding the number of pustules (P = 0.09). None of the number of comedone, papules, pustules, and ASI was statistically different between study groups. Both treatment groups had similar side effects except for scaling in the fifth session, which was significantly lower in salicylic acid - treated patients (P = 0.015). Conclusion: Both pyruvic acid 50% and salicylic acid 30% are effective in the improvement of mild to moderate acne with no significant difference in efficacy and side effects

Antimonial treatment failure rate in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis

Background: Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, leishmaniasis is now considered a severe public health problem, particularly in developing countries, such as Iran. Leishmaniasis is among the six most important, parasitic diseases of the world affecting 88 countries in almost every continent. The disease is complex with different clinical presentations such as visceral, cutaneous and mucocutaneous forms. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common form of the disease in Iran. Antimony compounds are the first line treatment of CL. The treatment of leishmaniasis in endemic areas relies on chemotherapy, and in several parts of the world the mainstay remains the pentavalent antimony (SbV)-containing drugs Pentostam (sodium stibogluconate) and Glucantime (meglumine). There is no comprehensive study on treatment failure rate of this compounds. This study was designed to evaluate treatment failure rate and possible involving factors of antimonial resistance in CL to facilitate and improve treatment strategies of this disease. Methods: All patients with CL referred to Skin Disease and Leishmaniasis Research Center (SDLRC), from October 2011 to October 2013, treated with antimony compounds were assessed in this study. Patient characteristics (gender, age and place of residence), number, type and location of the lesions, comorbidities and type of treatment were recorded and analyzed. Results: Rate of treatment failure with Meglusan was 4.3%. Failure rate in men and in patients with previous history of cutaneous leishmaniasis was more than women or patients without CL history (P= 0.000, 0.024 respectively). The results of this study showed that treatment failure was higher in patients with systemic treatment than intralesional (IL) or combination therapy (both IL and systemic treatment) group but this difference was not statistically significant. Also, size and number of the lesions, wound infection, the patient's age, location, education and occupation do not have a significant correlation with treatment failure. Conclusion: Greater treatment failure rate of Meglusan compared to Glucantime (4.3% versus< 1%, respectively) is an important issue to be considered in CL therapeutic strategy