Effect of antihistamine as an adjuvant treatment of isotretinoin in acne: a randomized, controlled comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Isotretinoin has been frequently used for acne therapy. However, it has limitation in acceptance because of its adverse effects. Although antihistamine recently revealed to decrease the lipogenesis, evidence is lacking regarding the clinical relevance of antihistamine in the treatment of acne. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and tolerability of antihistamine as an adjuvant treatment of isotretinoin. METHODS: Forty patients with moderate acne were included in this randomized, controlled comparative study. Twenty patients were treated with isotretinoin and 20 patients were treated with additional antihistamine, desloratadine. Assessment was made at baseline, after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: At week 12, compared with isotretinoin only group, isotretinoin with additional antihistamine group showed more statistically significant decrease in acne lesion counts (non-inflammatory lesions: 44.8% vs. 17.8%; inflammatory lesions: 55.8% vs. 22.9%; total lesions: 45.6% vs. 18.7%; all P < 0.05). Significant decrease was also observed in the score of global acne grading system and the measured value of sebum and erythema. Moreover, acne flare during the treatment occurred less frequently and adverse events of isotretinoin were more tolerable in additional antihistamine group. CONCLUSIONS: This results provide early evidence that antihistamine has a synergic effect with minimizing the side-effect of isotretinoin, and may be used as an adjuvant treatment of moderate acne.

Culture of chicken embryo in interspecific surrogate egg white.

The effect of interspecific egg white on the development of chicken embryos was investigated in a surrogate eggshell culture system. Egg yolks were separated from fertile White Leghorn chicken eggs and cultured in different egg whites from turkey (group TK), guineafowl (group GF), and duck (group DK), and chicken (group CK) was used as control. The viability of chicken embryos in groups CK, TK, GF, and DK after 3 d culture in system II was 98.3, 90.2, 96.1, and 91.1%. The whole contents (egg yolk and surrogate egg white) were further transferred into an eggshell from a 1.5 times heavier chicken egg with air space (system III), and incubated for further 16 d, before moving them to a hatcher. No significant difference between the 4 groups was found in their viabilities, which ranged between 72.9 and 81.3%, until 14 d postincubation (P > 0.05). After 21 d, the viability decreased to 60.4, 57.4, 50.0, and 27.7% in groups CK, TK, GF, and DK. The viability in group DK was significantly lower than in the other groups (P < 0.05). Weight loss in system III was approximately 12% in all the 4 groups without significant difference (P > 0.05). Hatchability of the chicken embryo was 60.4, 55.3, 47.9, and 19.1% in groups CK, TK, GF, and DK, respectively, and that in group DK was significantly lower than in the other groups (P < 0.05). There was no difference between the other groups (P > 0.05). These results show that chicken embryos can develop to hatch in duck, guineafowl, and turkey egg whites. However, the hatchability decreases according to the phylogenetic distance. The present study will provide a tool for manipulation of avian embryos and eventual conservation of endangered wild birds.

Xenogenic oogenesis of chicken (Gallus domesticus) female primordial germ cells in germline chimeric quail (Coturnix japonica) ovary.

In present study, chicken primordial germ cells (PGCs) were transferred into quail embryos to investigate the development of these germ cells in quail ovary. Briefly, 2 microl of chicken embryonic blood (stage 14) or about 100 purified circulating PGCs were transferred into quail embryo. Contribution of chicken PGCs were detected in gonads of chimeric quail embryos (stage 28) by immunocytochemical staining of cell surface antigen SSEA-1, and by in situ hybridization (ISH) with female chicken specific DNA probe. As a result, 52.0+/-43.2 (n=18) and 42.7+/-27.3 (n=17) chicken PGCs were found in the gonads of chimeric quail embryo that was injected with chicken embryonic blood (stage 14) and about 100 purified circulating PGCs, respectively. Furthermore, the ovaries of 81.8% (9/11) 12 days post incubation (dpi) chimeric quail embryos were observed with a mean of 457.6+/-237.1 female chicken PGCs-derived oogonia scattered in ovarian cortex area. In 9 out of 12 newly hatched and one week old chimeric quail chicks, on average of 2883.0+/-1924.1 primary oocytes and 3 follicles derived from chicken PGCs were found, respectively. The present results suggest that chicken female PGCs are able to migrate, colonize, proliferate and differentiate into oogonia, primary oocytes in chimeric quail ovary.

Production of germline chimeric chickens by transfer of cultured primordial germ cells.

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) from stage 27 (5.5-day-old) Korean native ogol chicken embryonic germinal ridges were cultured in vitro for 5 days. As in in vivo culture, these cultured PGCs were expected to have already passed beyond the migration stage. Approximately 200 of these PGCs were transferred into 2.5-day-old white leghorn embryonic blood stream, and then the recipient embryos were incubated until hatching. The rate of hatching was 58.8% in the manipulated eggs. Six out of 60 recipients were identified as germline chimeric chickens by their feather colour. The frequency of germline transmission of donor PGCs was 1.3-3.1% regardless of sex. The stage 27 PGCs will be very useful for collecting large numbers of PGCs, handling of exogenous DNA transfection during culture, and for the production of desired transgenic chickens.

Germ line chimera produced by transfer of cultured chick primordial germ cells.

Intrinsic primordial germ cells (PGCs) from stage 27 (5-day-old) chick embryonic germinal ridges were cultured in vitro for a further 5 days, and shown to proliferate on stroma cells derived from the germinal ridge. To determine whether these cultured PGCs could colonize and contribute to the germ-line, PGCs were isolated by gentle pipetting, labeled with PKH26 fluorescent dye and injected into the blood stream of stage 17 (2.5-day-old) chick embryos. The recipient embryos were incubated until they reached stage 28. Thin sections of these embryos were analysed by fluorescent confocal laser microscopy. These analyses showed that the labeled donor PGCs had migrated into the germinal ridges of the recipient embryos, and transplanted PGCs had undergone at least 3-7 divisions. These results suggest that PGCs that had passed far beyond the migration stage in vivo were still able to migrate, colonize and proliferate in recipient chick embryonic gonads.

Proliferation of chick primordial germ cells cultured on stroma cells from the germinal ridge.

Fluorescent reagent-labelled PGCs isolated from the blood of 2-day-old chick embryos were cultured on stroma cells derived from 5-day-old germinal ridge in Medium 199 supplemented with 10% FBS, human IGF-1, bovine FGF-b, and murine LIF. In 7 experiments, the number of MCs increased by an average of 4.8 fold in 4 days. Intrinsic PGCs in the 5-day embryonic germinal ridge were observed loosely attached to the stroma cells, and they also increased 3.8 fold during culture for 4 days. These results indicate the possibility of applying this culture method to the production of transgenic chickens.

Simple method for isolation of primordial germ cells from chick embryos.

A simple one step centrifugation method was developed for purification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) of chick embryos. PGCs, constituting less than 0.1% of the total blood cells of stage 13-14 embryos that contained a microliter amount of blood, were concentrated at the interface of a 6.3% (w/v) and 14.4% (w/v) Ficoll bilayer by centrifugation at 800 x g for 30 min. the purity of these PGCs was 86%, which was 22 times that obtained previously.

Logistics for smart 3-D hybrid floor base isolation system for seismic protection on operating rooms

Passive devices such as base isolation system, have been used in some existing structures, few or none have been used in computer operation rooms. This passive method when used in floor isolation, however, has inherent limitations such as displacements limits. On the other hand, active control devices can be applied to the floor to increase damping or modify the natural period of the floor system and ensure the proper operating conditions for the operation room systems. The objective of this paper is to study the necessary logistics for the development of a smart 3-D hybrid floor isolation system. Also included in this paper are discussions of the results of the auhtor's earlier research at Standford (AU)