10 research outputs found
Study - Failure of titer of contact hypersensitivity to correlate with clinical severity and therapeutic response in contact dermatitis caused by parthenium
Background: The titer of contact hypersensitivity (TCH) has been used
to determine the degree of contact hypersensitivity in patients with
contact dermatitis. The values have been found to vary in different
individuals and also in the same individual at different times
apparently due to the varying severity of the disease. We evaluated the
correlation of TCH with disease severity and therapeutic response in
patients of contact dermatitis caused by the plant Parthenium
hysterophorus . Methods: Forty-two patients, 30 (71.4%) males and 12
(28.6%) females, aged between 30-75 years, having air-borne contact
dermatitis to Parthenium hysterophorus for 0.5-20 years were included
in the study. The disease severity and TCH at baseline were recorded in
all the patients. They were treated with azathioprine and followed up
every month for 4-69 months. The TCH was repeated every 3 months and
the last recorded TCH value was taken for analysis in each patient.
Results: The baseline clinical severity score (CSS) varied from 10-80
(mean \ub1 SD: 35.47 \ub1 19.41) in these patients. It ranged from
10-30 in 22 (52.4%) patients, from 31-50 in 14 (33.3%) patients, and
was more than 50 in 6 (14.3%) patients. The baseline TCH to Parthenium
was undiluted (UD) in 2 (4.8%), 1:10 in 15 (35.7%), 1:100 in 20
(47.6%), and 1:1000 in 5 (11.9%) patients respectively. At the end of
the study, the clinical severity of the disease decreased in most of
the patients. The CSS came down to 0 in 31 patients, to 10-20, and to
50 in 4 patients each, but remained stable in three patients who had
baseline CSS from 20-40. The overall mean CSS came down from 35.47
\ub1 19.41 to 4.76 \ub1 9.43 (p = 0.002). However, there was no
significant change in the TCH levels over time (p = 0.153). The last
TCH value was negative in 2 (4.8%) patients, undiluted in 5 (11.9%),
1:10 in 10 (23.8%), 1:100 in 18 (42.9%), and 1:1000 in 7 (16.7%)
patients. There was no change in the TCH values in 16 (38.1%) patients
while it increased or decreased by 1-2 dilutions in 12 (28.6%) patients
each. Conclusions: We therefore conclude that the TCH does not
correlate with the clinical severity of contact dermatitis or response
to treatment
Studies - Extensive alopecia areata treated with betamethasone oral mini-pulse therapy: An open uncontrolled study
BACKGROUND: Extensive alopecia areata is known to respond to daily
oral corticosteroids. To minimize the side effects of daily
corticosteroids, oral mini-pulse therapy with betamethasone has been
used in vitiligo and other dermatoses. There are a few studies in
alopecia areata also. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of oral
mini-pulse therapy in extensive alopecia areata. METHODS: It is an
open study on sixteen adolescents and adults with alopecia areata/
totalis/universalis treated with oral mini-pulse therapy for a minimum
period of six months. The patients were evaluated clinically and with
serial photographs for response and periodical investigations were
undertaken to look for the side effects. All the patients were followed
up for 5-8 months to look for any relapse. RESULTS: Seven (43.7%)
patients showed an excellent response and five (31.2%) patients had
good response. Two patients (12.5%) had unsatisfactory response and
another two (12.5%) were non-responders. There were insignificant /
minimal side effects. CONCLUSION: Oral mini-pulse therapy with
betamethasone is a safe and effective therapeutic modality for
extensive alopecia areata
Parthenium dermatitis severity score to assess clinical severity of disease
Background: Parthenium dermatitis is the most common type of airborne contact dermatitis in India. It is a chronic disease of a remitting and relapsing course with significant morbidity and distress, but there is no scoring system to assess its severity. Aim: To design a scoring system for the assessment of clinical severity of disease in Parthenium dermatitis and to use this scoring system in various studies to determine its sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility. Methods and Results: In our first few studies on Parthenium dermatitis, we designed and used a basic clinical severity scoring system based on itching, morphology of the lesions, and areas involved. However, in subsequent studies, we modified it to the present scoring system as Parthenium dermatitis severity score (PDSS). Our studies showed the high sensitivity of PDSS in characterization of the disease severity at the given point of time, as well as to determine the efficacy of a prescribed treatment modality which was reliable and reproducible. Conclusion: Thus, PDSS may be used by clinicians for appropriate scoring of the clinical severity of Parthenium dermatitis and in monitoring the disease response to therapy
Azathioprine versus betamethasone for the treatment of parthenium dermatitis: A randomized controlled study
Seasonal variation in contact hypersensitivity to Parthenium in patients of Parthenium dermatitis
Nox1 Expression Determines Cellular Reactive Oxygen and Modulates c-fos-Induced Growth Factor, Interleukin-8, and Cav-1
Increased cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) can act as mitogenic signals in addition to damaging DNA and oxidizing lipids and proteins, implicating ROS in cancer development and progression. To analyze the effects of Nox1 expression and its relation to cellular ROS and signal transduction involved in cellular proliferation, Nox1RNAi constructs were transfected into DU145 prostate cancer cells overexpressing Nox1, causing decreased Nox1 message and protein levels in the Nox1RNAi cell lines. Increased ROS and tumor growth in the Nox1-overexpressing DU145 cells were reversed in the presence of the Nox1RNAi. Analysis and comparison of the message levels in the overexpression and RNAi cells demonstrated that Nox1 overexpression leads to changes in message levels of a variety of proteins including c-fos-induced growth factor, interleukin-8, and Cav-1. Finally, we found that Nox1 protein overexpression is an early event in the development of prostate cancer using a National Cancer Institute prostate cancer tissue microarray (CPCTR). Tumor (86%) was significantly more likely to have Nox1 staining than benign prostate tissue (62%) (P = 0.0001). These studies indicate that Nox1 overexpression may function as a reversible signal for cellular proliferation with relevance for a common human tumor