A comparison of patch test results with the European Baseline Series, Polish Baseline Series and an original extended series in the diagnosis of patients with suspected contact allergy

Wyprysk to jeden z najczęstszych obrazów chorobowych spotykanych w praktyce alergologicznej. W każdym przypadku przewlekłego wyprysku należy wykonać testy płatkowe, które z jednej strony mogą potwierdzić lub wykluczyć rozpoznanie alergicznego wyprysku kontaktowego, a z drugiej mogą ujawnić wtórną alergię kontaktową, która rozwinąwszy się na podłożu innej choroby zapalnej skóry, może wikłać jej przebieg. Cel: Analiza wpływu wielkości i składu serii testowej na efektywność diagnostyczną testów płatkowych. Pacjenci i metody: Retrospektywna analiza wyników 64 pacjentów zakwalifikowanych do testów płatkowych z zastosowaniem rozszerzonej autorskiej serii obejmującej 40 substancji testowych (tzw. „Seria Krakowska”, KRK). Porównaliśmy wyniki wykonanych u tych pacjentów testów płatkowych z serią KRK oraz Europejską Serią Podstawową (EBS, 28 substancji) i Polską Serią Podstawową (POL, 30 substancji). Za miarę skuteczności diagnostycznej porównywanych serii przyjęliśmy liczbę osób z wykrytą alergią kontaktową (przynajmniej jeden odczyn dodatni) oraz średnią liczbę dodatnich odczynów w grupie. Wyniki: Wykonanie testów płatkowych z EBS umożliwiło stwierdzenie alergii kontaktowej u 55 pacjentów, z POL u 56, a z KRK u 58 pacjentów. Średnia liczba dodatnich odczynów w badanej grupie wyniosła 1,94 dla EBS, 2,16 dla POL i 3,28 dla KRK (p <0,001). Wniosek: Stosowanie rozbudowanych serii testowych zwiększa efektywność diagnostyczną testów płatkowych, co wyraża się zarówno większym odsetkiem osób ze stwierdzoną alergią kontaktową, jak i większą liczbą uczuleń wykrywanych u poszczególnych pacjentów.Eczema is one of the most common clinical pictures encountered in allergist’s practice. In all cases of chronic eczema, patch testing should be performed to confirm or exclude the diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis. Moreover, the tests may reveal contact allergy developing secondarily in the course of other inflammatory skin disease and complicating its further course. Aim: To analyse the impact of the size and composition of hapten series on the diagnostic efficacy of patch tests. Patients and methods: A retrospective analysis of 64 patients qualified for patch testing who were tested with an original extensive series consisting of 40 test substances („Krakow Series”, KRK). We analysed the obtained test results with the KRK series in comparison to hypothetical results if the patients would have been tested only with the European Baseline Series (EBS, 28 substances) or Polish Baseline Series (POL, 30 substances). The outcome measures of the diagnostic efficacy were numbers of people with contact allergy as detected witch each series (at least one positive reaction), and the mean number of positive reactions in the group. Results: Patch testing would enable the detection of contact allergy in 55 patients when testing only with the EBS series and in 56 patients when testing with POL, while 58 patients were ultimately diagnosed with KRK. Mean number of positive reactions in the study group was 1.94 for EBS, 2.16 for POL, and 3.28 for KRK (p <0.001). Conclusion: The use of extensive test series increases the effectiveness of patch tests, expressed both as a higher number of subjects with detected contact allergy, and higher number of sensitizations detected per individual patient

3D Raman imaging of systemic endothelial dysfunction in the murine model of metastatic breast cancer

It was recently reported in the murine model of metastatic breast cancer (4T1) that tumor progression and development of metastasis is associated with systemic endothelial dysfunction characterized by impaired nitric oxide (NO) production. Using Raman 3D confocal imaging with the analysis of the individual layers of the vascular wall combined with AFM endothelial surface imaging, we demonstrated that metastasis-induced systemic endothelial dysfunction resulted in distinct chemical changes in the endothelium of the aorta. These changes, manifested as a significant increase in the protein content (18 %) and a slight decrease in the lipid content (4 %), were limited to the endothelium and did not occur in the deeper layers of the vascular wall. The altered lipid to protein ratio in the endothelium, although more pronounced in the fixed vascular wall, was also observed in the freshly isolated unfixed vascular wall samples in the aqueous environment (12 and 7 % change of protein and lipid content, respectively). Our results support the finding that the metastasis induces systemic endothelial dysfunction that may contribute to cancer progression

AFM-based detection of glycocalyx degradation and endothelial stiffening in the db/db mouse model of diabetes

Degradation of the glycocalyx and stiffening of endothelium are important pathophysiological components of endothelial dysfunction. However, to our knowledge, these events have not been investigated in tandem in experimental diabetes. Here, the mechanical properties of the glycocalyx and endothelium in ex vivo mouse aorta were determined simultaneously in indentation experiments with an atomic force microscope (AFM) for diabetic db/db and control db/+ mice at ages of 11–19 weeks. To analyze highly heterogeneous aorta samples, we developed a tailored classification procedure of indentation data based on a bi-layer brush model supplemented with Hertz model for quantification of nanomechanics of endothelial regions with and without the glycocalyx surface. In db/db mice, marked endothelial stiffening and reduced glycocalyx coverage were present already in 11-week-old mice and persisted in older animals. In contrast, reduction of the effective glycocalyx length was progressive and was most pronounced in 19-week-old db/db mice. The reduction of the glycocalyx length correlated with an increasing level of glycated haemoglobin and decreased endothelial NO production. In conclusion, AFM nanoindentation analysis revealed that stiffening of endothelial cells and diminished glycocalyx coverage occurred in early diabetes and were followed by the reduction of the glycocalyx length that correlated with diabetes progression