ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Despite the use of several evaluation methods, the lack of a true consensus scale hinders standardization of evaluation and treatment of depressed acne scars. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the usefulness of a stereoimage optical topometer (SOT) system in evaluating the efficacy of autologous cultured fibroblast injection for depressed acne scars and to compare the results with those obtained using a visual grading system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-two patients with depressed acne scars were included. Three doses of cultured autologous fibroblast (2 × 10(7) cell/mL) injections were given at 2-week intervals. Efficacy was evaluated at 2, 4, 12, and 16 weeks using a visual grading system and a SOT. RESULTS: After autologous fibroblast injection, the lesions evaluated using the visual grading and SOT systems steadily improved. Visual grading and SOT variables obtained showed a similar tendency, although an interrater reliability test of the visual grading system correlated poorly. CONCLUSIONS: A three-dimensional morphologic study can be a useful and reliable method of evaluating the severity of acne scars. We were able to more objectively and quantitatively evaluate acne scar severity through combined analysis using visual grading and SOT systems.
Subject(s)
Acne Vulgaris/complications , Cicatrix/etiology , Cicatrix/therapy , Fibroblasts/transplantation , Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/instrumentation , Imaging, Three-Dimensional/instrumentation , Optical Devices , Adult , Female , Humans , Injections , Male , Middle Aged , Statistics, Nonparametric , Transplantation, AutologousABSTRACT
The interferon-induced, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-dependent protein kinase PKR plays a key role in interferon-mediated host defense against viral infection, and is implicated in cellular transformation and apoptosis. We have isolated a cDNA of simian PKR encoding a product with 83% amino acid identity to the human homolog and showed that PKR expression is significantly attenuated in the Vero E6 African green monkey kidney cells devoid of type I interferon genes. A variant form of PKR lacking the exon 12 in the kinase domain is produced in these cells, presumably from an alternatively spliced transcript. Unlike wild type PKR, the variant protein named PKR-DE12 is incapable of auto-phosphorylation and phosphorylation of eIF2-a, indicating that the kinase sub-domains III and IV embedded in exon 12 are indispensable for catalytic function. PKR-DE12 had no dominant negative effect but was weakly phosphorylated in trans by wild type PKR.
