A Case of Multiple Necrotic Dyskeratotic Cells within the Upper Epidermis and Horny Layer Revealing Persistent Papules and Plaques of Adult-Onset Still's Disease.

It is important to differentiate violaceous to dusky red papules and plaques that widely persist on the trunk and extremities because there are dermatoses that could be fatal, such as lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, drug eruptions, and graft-versus-host disease. Dyskeratotic cells only in the upper epidermis and horny layer are not well known, but it is a distinctive histopathological pattern of atypical type of rash of adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD). AOSD rash is a transient salmon-colored rash that occurs and disappears with fever; however, an atypical type of rash called "persistent dermal plaque" or "persistent pruritic eruptions" has also been reported. It occurs and persists even after fever subsides. Herein, we describe a case with necrotic dyskeratotic cells in the upper epidermis and horny layer without AOSD symptoms lasting for five years.

Characterisation of black skin stratum corneum by digital macroscopic images analysis.

Black skin medical images generally show very low contrast. Being in a global initiative of characterisation of black skin horny layer (stratum corneum) by digital images analysis, the authors in this study proposed a four-step approach. The first step consists of differentiation between probable healthy skin regions and those affected. For that, they used an automatic classification system based on multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks. The network has been trained with texture and colour features. Best features selection and network architecture definition were done using sequential network construction algorithm-based method. After classification, selected regions undergo a colour transformation, in order to increase the contrast with the lesion region. Thirdly, created colour information serves as the basis for a modified fuzzy c-mean clustering algorithm to perform segmentation. The proposed method, named neural network-based fuzzy clustering, was applied to many black skin lesion images and they obtained segmentation rates up to 94.67%. The last stage consists in calculating characteristics. Eight parameters are concerned: uniformity, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis, smoothness, entropy, and average pixel values calculated for red and blue colour channels. All developed methods were tested with a database of 600 images and obtained results were discussed and compared with similar works.

Study on extraction of DNA from animal cornu / 中草药

Objective: To establish the method of DNA extraction for animal cornu, ensuring the quality of extracted DNA to meet the requirement of PCR and sequencing, which can be used in DNA extraction for the old animal horn samples. Methods: To avoid incomplete DNA extraction or damaged DNA by using EDTA decalcify when drawing material from bone, DTT, cell lysis solution and proteinase K were used to treat horn cells when drawing material from horny layer, other steps of DNA extraction were operated according to the reagent kit instructions. The effects of sampling amount and DTT dosage on the quality of DNA from horny layer were also investigated. Results: The sampling amount was 25 mg, DTT dosage was 20 μL, horn cells can be lysised completely, and the quality of DNA of all samples can meet the requirements of PCR. Conclusion: The method of DNA extraction from animal cornu established in this study can extract DNA completely, ensure standardized operation, and could be applied to the extraction of various animal horns.

Photoprotective Effect of Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) Seed Tea against UVB Irradiation.

Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) seed is widely used as a traditional medicine in countries of Asia. Among many functions of the lotus seed, one interesting activity is its skin protection from the sunlight and scar. In this study, we focused on the skin protective property of lotus seed tea against ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation. Two groups of a hairless mouse model, water as control (water group) and lotus seed tea (LST group), were administrated a fluid drink water for six months. After 6 month of administration, UVB exposure was carried out to both groups for another 3 months. During and after the administration, the skin moisture content and the morphological and histopathological analyses through biopsy were carried out. Prior to UVB irradiation, no significant difference was discovered in the skin moisture content for the water group and LST group (P<0.05). However, drastic changes were observed after the UVB treatment. The LST group showed a clear evidence of skin protection compared to the control group (P<0.05). The moisture content, epidermal and horny layer thickness, and protein carbonyl values all revealed that the intake of the lotus seed tea enhanced protection against UVB exposure. As a result, the long-term intake of the lotus seed tea showed the effect of preventing loss of skin moisture, mitigating the formation of abnormal keratinocytes, and contributing to protein oxidation inhibition.

Kampo Therapy of Atopic Dermatitis in Adolescents and Adults. Oral Administration of Kagen-ichiin-sen-ka-kiban-kyo-sekko / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Atopic dermatitis in adolescents and adults has severe erythema and desquamation, particularly on the face and the neck, and is often resistant for various treatments. We previously reported the case of intractable erythematous dry-type atopic dermatitis where Kagen-ichiin-sen-ka-kiban-kyo was effect. Kagenichiin-sen-ka-kiban-kyo has an effect for nourishing <i>Yin and Blood</i>. Although its antiinflammatory effect is weak, we expected it would improve the deteriorated barrier function of the skin by moistening dry skin, and treat the atopic dermatitis more fundamentally. This time aiming broad application for the lesion of exudative eczema, we treated atopic dermatitis by using sekko-added Kagen-ichiin-sen-ka-kiban-kyo (Kagen-ichiin-sen-ka-kiban-kyo-sekko). The moisture content of the forehead and the extensor surface of forearm sequentially increased. And IgE-KIST and LDH, the markers of the state of a disease, were significantlly reduced. Good results were given; 68.8% of efficacy in men and 77.8% in women.<br>This Kampo formulation is assumed one of the effective formulations for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Zentai(Cicadae Periostracum) may exacerbate Itchiness in Atopic Dermatitis / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Zentai (Cicadae Periostracum) is classified by traditional Chinese medicine as one of the “pungent cool-natured” drugs, but its pharmacological action is not well known yet.<br>Zentai is used in Shofu-san as an expelling pathogenic wind component for relieving itchiness for patients with eczema, dermatitis, urticaria, etc.<br>We examined a number of patients with atopic dermatitis whose condition worsened after they were treated with Zentai to relieve itchiness.<br>In the current study, five male and ten female adolescent/adult patients were randomly selected to receive 2.5g of Zentai. These patients had been treated with Kagen-ichiin-sen-ka-kiban-kyo and their skin conditions had been stable so far.<br>In a follow-up two weeks later, the water content of the horny layer of skin at the forehead and the anterior side of the forearm decreased significantly (p<0.05). In terms of the level of itchiness, two patients (13.3%) improved, nine patients (60%) worsened, and the other four (26.7%) remained unchanged.<br>The current study indicates that Zentai worsens dry skin and exacerbates itchiness. Care will be required in the use of Zentai for the treatment of atopic dermatitis because of its drying pharmacological character.

The Effects of Toki-Inshi and a Bath Preparation Containing Licorice Extract on Patients with Senile Pruritus / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The main cause of senile pruritus is said to be dryness of the skin. Therefore, we treated patients with xerosis senilis, a common dry skin condition, using an oral preparation of Toki-inshi and a bath preparation containing licorice extract. The effectiveness of these treatments was determined by measuring changes in the water content of the epidermal horny layer over time using an electrical measuring device. The ability of the skin to retain moisture was expressed as the degree of dryness of the skin, and the results compared with the untreated group.<br>When the bath preparation was used, the skin dryness improved quickly, but the effects soon disappeared when the treatment was stopped. When Toki-inshi was administered orally, the improvement was slower than with the bath preparation, but the effects did not disappear immediately when the drug was withdrawn as in the case of the bath preparation. However, since there was not necessarily agreement between improvement in skin dryness and alleviation of pruritus, factors other than skin dryness might be involved.

Nature of the Local Differences in Electroconductivity by D. C. Measurement / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

In order to clarify the physiological nature of the local differences in the skin electroconductivity we measured transcutaneous electric current on the representative (determinate) points of Ryodo-Raku (by Y. Nakatani) which correspond to so-called Genketu of traditional Chinese medicine with a wet electrode of 1cm in diameter in the condition of D. C. 12 volts and 200 uA when, both electrodes are directly connected. Eighty-two healthy adults were tested once and four other healthy adults were tested daily for eight days. We analysed mathematically the values of measurements by the principal component analysis.<br>As a result, we found that the electroconductivity of the skin in the upper and lower limbs both, and volar and dorsal sites of the upper limb changed independently each other and showed from rough to close interrelations according to the orders as above-mentioned.