Clinical Efficacy of Blue Light Full Body Irradiation as Treatment Option for Severe Atopic Dermatitis

BACKGROUND: Therapy of atopic dermatitis (AD) relies on immunosuppression and/or UV irradiation. Here, we assessed clinical efficacy and histopathological alterations induced by blue light-treatment of AD within an observational, non-interventional study. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 36 patients with severe, chronic AD resisting long term disease control with local corticosteroids were included. Treatment consisted of one cycle of 5 consecutive blue light-irradiations (28.9 J/cm(2)). Patients were instructed to ask for treatment upon disease exacerbation despite interval therapy with topical corticosteroids. The majority of patients noted first improvements after 2-3 cycles. The EASI score was improved by 41% and 54% after 3 and 6 months, respectively (p≤0.005, and p≤0.002). Significant improvement of pruritus, sleep and life quality was noted especially after 6 months. Also, frequency and intensity of disease exacerbations and the usage of topical corticosteroids was reduced. Finally, immunohistochemistry of skin biopsies obtained at baseline and after 5 and 15 days revealed that, unlike UV light, blue light-treatment did not induce Langerhans cell or T cell depletion from skin. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Blue light-irradiation may represent a suitable treatment option for AD providing long term control of disease. Future studies with larger patient cohorts within a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial are required to confirm this observation

Interlaminar fracture characterization for plain weave fabric composites

For the analysis of laminated composite plates under transverse loading and drilling of composites, all the elastic, strength and fracture properties of the composite plates are essential. Interlaminar critical strain energy release rate properties in mode I, mode II, mixed mode I/II and mode III have been evaluated for two types of plain weave fabric E-glass/epoxy laminates. The double cantilever beam test and the end notch flexure test have been used for mode I and mode II loading. The mixed mode bending test and split cantilever beam test have been used for mixed mode I/II and mode III loading. It is observed that the plain weave fabric composite with lesser strand width has higher interlaminar fracture properties compared to the plain weave fabric composite with more strand width. Further, crack length versus crack growth resistance plots have been presented for mode III loading. In general, it is observed that total fracture resistance is significantly higher than the critical strain energy release rate. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

Ultraviolet Phototherapy of Pruritus

It has been known for more than 2000 years that several skin diseases improve upon exposure to the sun. However, it was not until the end of the 19th century before Niels R. Finsen started to use sunlight as well as electric light for the treatment of skin tuberculosis.1 He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903 “in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris, with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science.” The carbon arc lamp initially used by Finsen was later shown to emit longwave ultraviolet radiation. Another device, still successfully used in some circumscribed itchy skin diseases, was constructed by Gustav Bucky in 1929. This device produced ionizing radiation employing ultrasoft X-rays (0.07-0.4 nm), which Bucky called “grenz rays” since he believed that the biological effects of these rays resemble those of X-rays in some ways and ultraviolet rays in other ways

Revisiting steroid treatment for septic shock: molecular actions and clinical effects - a review

Corticosteroids are widely used to treat a diversity of pathological conditions including allergic, autoimmune and some infectious diseases. These drugs have complex mechanisms of action involving both genomic and non-genomic mechanisms and interfere with different signal transduction pathways in the cell. The use of corticosteroids to treat critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome and severe infections, such as sepsis and pneumonia, is still a matter of intense debate in the scientific and medical community with evidence both for and against its use in these patients. Here, we review the basic molecular mechanisms important for corticosteroid action as well as current evidence for their use, or not, in septic patients. We also present an analysis of the reasons why this is still such a controversial point in the literature