The effect of messaging on the acceptance of swaps to reduce the energy content of snacks and non-alcoholic drinks ordered in an experimental online workplace canteen: A randomised controlled trial.

Finding effective ways to increase acceptance of lower-energy swaps offered for snacks and non-alcoholic drinks may reduce population energy intake. We examined whether incrementally increasing the tangibility of information accompanying swaps offered increased their acceptance. UK adults (n = 3481) selected a sweet snack, a savoury snack, and a drink in an experimental online canteen after being equally randomised to receive one of four messages when swaps were offered; a control message providing no specific information, a vague calorie message, an exact numeric-calories message or, a physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE). Primary outcomes were the between-group differences in (i) the odds that a sweet, savoury, or drink swap would be accepted and (ii) the energy content for each type of item ordered. Compared with control, the numeric-calories and PACE messages significantly increased the odds of accepting a sweet snack swap. All interventions significantly increased the odds of accepting savoury swaps compared with control. Only the PACE message significantly increased the odds of drink swap acceptance. The numeric-calories and PACE messages significantly reduced the energy content of sweet snacks. All interventions significantly reduced the energy content of savoury snacks. None of the intervention messages significantly reduced the energy content of drinks compared with control. Increasing the tangibility of information provided when offering swaps increased swap acceptance. PACE messaging was the most promising.

A pseudolymphomatous skin reaction secondary to flucloxacillin.

We report the first case of a pseudolymphomatous skin reaction precipitated by flucloxacillin. Skin histology was suggestive of a cutaneous lymphoma, and DNA analysis by single stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) demonstrated T-cell receptor gamma gene monoclonality. Withdrawal of flucloxacillin led to immediate clinical improvement and gradual resolution of skin rash and lymph nodes.

A study of the kinetics and pattern of E-selectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression in chronic actinic dermatitis.

It has been postulated that chronic actinic dermatitis (CAD), an eczematous photodermatosis, is a type IV hypersensitivity reaction. Expression of adhesion molecules on dermal blood vessels is critical to the recruitment of inflammatory cells into the skin; the pattern and kinetics of upregulation of these molecules in the skin differ following ultraviolet irradiation and delayed hypersensitivity reactions. We therefore investigated the kinetics of expression of endothelial leucocyte adhesion molecules (E-selectin) vascular-cell adhesion molecules 1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) in CAD lesions induced by suberythemal solar-stimulated radiation, by immunohistochemical staining of biopsies taken at 1-168 h after irradiation. In control, unirradiated skin from CAD patients, baseline vessel-associated and interstitial ICAM-1, and vessel-associated VCAM-1 were noted; focal keratinocyte ICAM-1 expression was observed in two of the five patients. Endothelial E-selectin, and vessel-associated and interstitial VCAM-1 expression, were upregulated in induced lesions by 1-5 h in all patients, and remained elevated at 120-168 h. Vessel associated, dermal interstitial, and keratinocyte ICAM-1 expression was upregulated in all patients at 24 h, and remained increased at 120-168 h. These findings differ from those observed following ultraviolet irradiation of normal skin, and resemble those seen in normal skin during a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction, supporting the hypothesis that CAD involves a type IV response to an as yet unidentified photo-induced antigen.

HLA-DR4 may determine expression of actinic prurigo in British patients.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) associations have been reported in Amerindian patients with actinic prurigo. To determine if similar associations are present in the British Caucasoid population with actinic prurigo, 26 patients underwent serological typing for HLC Class I and II antigens. DNA analysis by both sequence-specific priming and group-specific amplification with single-stranded oligonucleotide probe hybridization was used to confirm the DR and DQ typing and to perform DR4 subtyping. All patients were DR4 positive, and 25 of 26 patients were DQ7 positive. DR4 subtyping revealed 12 of 20 patients tested to be DRB1*0407. A nonsignificant association was also found with HLA B55 that is in linkage disequilibrium with DRB1*0407. No HLA associations were found in 25 British Caucasoid patients with polymorphic light eruption. DRB1*0407 is rare in European Caucasoids without actinic prurigo, and HLA-DR4 may have an important role in determining expression of this disease.

Management of drug eruptions: Part II. Diagnosis and treatment.

In this second of two articles on adverse cutaneous drug reactions, the management of drug eruptions is reviewed. This necessitates, above all, a full history and may involve observation of the effects of drug elimination. Skin testing may be helpful in some circumstances, but is hampered by false positive and negative results, and lack of knowledge of the significant antigenic determinants for most drugs. In vitro tests are for the most part unreliable and are research tools. Challenge tests are safe in fixed drug eruption, but are absolutely contraindicated in Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. The approach to the treatment of the more serious adverse cutaneous drug reactions, including angioedema/anaphylaxis, exfoliative dermatitis erythroderma and toxic epidermal necrolysis is reviewed. For those patients who develop reactions to an essential medication for which there is no alternative, desensitization is possible.

Mechanisms of drug eruptions: Part I.

The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying common, and less common but severe, adverse cutaneous drug reactions are reviewed. Pharmacogenetic variability may account for a susceptibility to serious drug reactions to sulphonamides and anticonvulsants, as well as to lupus erythematosus (LE)-like syndrome. Exanthematous drug reactions may have an immunological basis. Cell mediated cutaneous drug reactions, including lichenoid reactions, LE-like syndrome, fixed drug eruption, erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis, will inevitably involve elements of the skin immune system. Graft-versus-host disease provides a useful model for aspects of these drug-induced disorders. Urticaria, angioedema, anaphylaxis and anaphylactoid reactions may involve Type I immunoglobulin (Ig)-mediated or Type III hypersensitivity, or may be caused by pharmacological, non-allergic means. Drug-induced vasculitis, serum sickness and the Arthus phenomenon are manifestations of the immune complex disease. Drug-induced pemphigus may involve immune dysregulation, but several thiol-containing drugs are able to cause antibody-independent acantholysis directly.

Modulation of the IL-1 cytokine network in keratinocytes by intracellular IL-1 alpha and IL-1 receptor antagonist.

The IL-1 cytokine network in epidermal cells was studied in vitro, using the spontaneously transformed HaCAT human keratinocyte line. Intracellular (ic) IL-1 alpha and IL-1 receptor antagonist protein (IL-1Ra) following cell lysis were readily identified assayed using a capture ELISA; whereas in culture supernatants IL-1Ra was not detected, and IL-1 alpha was present at only very low levels. Confluent cultures of HaCAT cells were shown to provide optimal conditions for the study, since confluence increased the icIL-1Ra:IL-1 alpha ratio to a level as seen in vivo, which was independent of Ca2+ concentration in the culture medium. The IL-1Ra extracted from HaCAT cell lysates was functionally active, as demonstrated in the mouse thymocyte co-proliferation assay which could be blocked using a rabbit anti-IL-1Ra antibody. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta 1) stimulated a dose-dependent increase in HaCAT cell IL-1 alpha without changing IL-1Ra concentration, with a resultant reduction in the icIL-1Ra: IL-1 alpha ratio from 320:1 to 100:1. Similarly, TGF-alpha, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IL-6, and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) substantially increased HaCAT cell IL-1 alpha, but had no effect on the IL-1Ra, with a concomitant reduction in the icIL-1Ra:IL-1 alpha ratio. In contrast to their effects on monocytes, IL-4 and IL-10 at biologically active levels had no effect on IL-1 alpha, IL-1Ra or the icIL-1Ra: IL-1 alpha ratio in confluent HaCAT cells. Hydrocortisone reduced IL-1 alpha to below the limit of sensitivity of the ELISA, and induced a small increase in IL-1Ra of questionable biological significance. Thus, regulation of the IL-1 cytokine network in keratinocytes involves modulation of icIL-1 alpha rather than of icIL-1Ra levels, and is markedly different from that noted in monocytes.

Captopril-induced lichenoid eruption.

The case of a patient who developed remarkably extensive tumid nodules and plaques in a cobblestone pattern on the extensor aspects of the limbs is reported as a late presentation of captopril-induced lichenoid eruption. The severity and chronicity of our patient's symptoms and signs reflected delay in reaching the diagnosis.

Antigen-presenting capacity in normal human dermis is mainly subserved by CD1a+ cells.

A proposed role for antigen-presenting dermal dendrocytes in the pathogenesis of many dermal inflammatory skin diseases remains speculative. We therefore sought to determine the phenotype and functional characteristics of antigen-presenting cells isolated from normal human dermis. Normal adult human skin was incubated overnight with dispase at 4 degrees C, the epidermis was removed, and the residual dermal preparation was then minced and digested with a mixture of hyaluronidase, collagenase, and DNAase at 37 degrees C, prior to filtration through mesh. Dermal cell suspensions thus obtained were stained using specific monoclonal antibodies, and analysed by fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry. Mean values were as follows: CD45+ leucocytes 39%, HLA-DR+ cells 39%, Ulex europaeus agglutinin I+ endothelial cells 26%, CD1a+ cells 3.9%, CD11b+ cells 16%, CD11c+ cells 6%. Mitomycin C-treated crude dermal cell suspensions induced allostimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in a 7-day culture, as assessed by 3H-TdR incorporation. Depletion of CD1a+ Langerhans-like cells from the dermal cell preparation, by 95, 74 and 90% in three separate experiments using immunomagnetic beads, reduced 3H-TdR incorporation at optimal responder-to-stimulator cell ratios by 90, 64, and 87%, respectively. Our findings suggest that, in normal human dermis, the great majority of the alloantigen-presenting capacity resides in the CD1a+ Langerhans cell-like dendritic antigen-presenting cell population, and not to any great extent in either CD1a- macrophage-like cells, or HLA-DR+ endothelial cells. The relationship of the CD1a+ dermal antigen-presenting cells to the Langerhans cell lineage remains to be determined.

Localization of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and its receptors in normal and psoriatic skin: epidermal cells express the 55-kD but not the 75-kD TNF receptor.

The distribution of TNF-alpha, p55 TNF receptor (TNF-R) and p75 TNF-R in normal skin and uninvolved and lesional skin from psoriasis patients has been investigated, using specific mono- and polyclonal antibodies. In normal skin, and uninvolved and lesional skin from psoriasis patients, p55 TNF-R is associated with epidermal keratinocytes and a network of upper dermal dendritic cells. This suggests that the actions of TNF-alpha on epidermal cells in vivo are mediated by binding to the p55 TNF-R. In lesional psoriasis skin, there was staining of the parakeratotic stratum corneum and increased expression of p55 TNF-R in association with upper dermal blood vessels. Staining for p75 TNF-R in normal skin was restricted to eccrine sweat ducts and dermal dendritic cells, and was absent from the epidermis. In lesional psoriasis skin, there was staining for p75 TNF-R in association with upper dermal blood vessels and perivascular infiltrating cells. TNF-alpha in normal skin was predominantly localized to the basal cell layers of the epidermis, and was seen in association with eccrine ducts and sebaceous glands. In lesional psoriasis skin, and to a lesser extent in uninvolved psoriasis skin, TNF-alpha was distributed throughout the epidermis, and was also specifically localized to upper dermal blood vessels. Up-regulation of TNF-alpha, p55 TNF-R and p75 TNF-R on dermal blood vessels in psoriasis may play an important role in the pathogenesis of this condition by promoting cutaneous recruitment of inflammatory cells.

Distribution of interleukin 1 receptor antagonist protein (IRAP), interleukin 1 receptor, and interleukin 1 alpha in normal and psoriatic skin. Decreased expression of IRAP in psoriatic lesional epidermis.

The distribution of interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha), type 1 interleukin 1 receptor (IL-1R), and the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist protein (IRAP), was investigated in biopsies of normal skin, and in uninvolved and lesional skin of patients with psoriasis, using specific monoclonal antibodies. We report the novel finding that IRAP is distributed throughout the living layers of the epidermis in normal skin, and is also associated with sebaceous glands and eccrine sweat glands. Our finding that the inhibitor protein IRAP is present in areas where the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1 alpha is distributed provides strong evidence in favour of a cytokine regulatory system in normal skin. We further document for the first time that IL-1R in normal skin is localized to the living layers of the epidermis, sebaceous and eccrine glands, as well as to a prominent network of dermal dendritic cells, and upper dermal blood vessels. There was a consistent reduction in the level of IRAP expression in lesional compared with uninvolved skin in biopsies from six out of seven psoriasis patients. Decreased IRAP expression in lesions of psoriasis indicates that alterations in the level of this inhibitor protein may be important in the pathogenesis of inflammatory skin conditions.

Hypopigmented mycosis fungoides.

We report the case of a 25-year-old Jamaican woman with hypopigmented mycosis fungoides. She first developed a hypopigmented patch on her arm at the age of 11 years. Further lesions developed on the trunk and limbs over a period of 10 years. The lesions were completely impalpable. Skin biopsy showed an infiltrate of atypical lymphocytes, some with cerebriform nuclei, suggesting a diagnosis of mycosis fungoides. The lesions cleared with PUVA therapy.

[Typing of infiltration cells in primary, localized, nodular, cutaneous amyloidosis]. / Typisierung von Infiltratzellen bei primärer, lokalisierter, nodulärer, kutaner Amyloidose.

Amyloid tumours in two patients with primary localized nodular cutaneous amyloidosis contained very dense infiltrates consisting mainly of plasma cells and lymphocytes. In one case IgM was detected on many cells of the infiltrate, while in the other IgA was found in morphologically apparently normal plasma cells. Immunohistochemical investigations did not reveal any immunoglobulin light chain restriction in either of the tumours. Numerous cells expressed B cell markers, such as CD20 or CD38. Rearrangement studies on material from the amyloid tumour of one of the patients confirmed the monoclonality of plasma cells. This observation indicates that the nodules of primary localized nodular cutaneous amyloidosis indeed represent an extramedullary plasmocytoma, which consists of amyloid-producing plasma cells. Of special interest was the unexpectedly high proportion of cells expressing T cell markers (CD3, CD5, CD4 greater than CD8) in the amyloid nodules of both patients. After excluding co-expression of B and T cell markers on identical cells by immunohistochemical studies on serial sections and also after molecular biological studies, we assume that this is a separate T cell population that may have a regulatory effect on the production of amyloid.

Gene rearrangement studies in the diagnosis of primary systemic and nodular primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis.

Difficulties may arise in the diagnosis of patients with clinical features suggestive of plasma cell dyscrasia-related amyloidosis (amyloidosis L), but without evidence of a paraprotein. We have employed gene rearrangement methodology to demonstrate the clonality of bone marrow cells not only in a patient with myeloma-associated systemic amyloidosis, but also in a patient with "primary" systemic amyloidosis without overt myeloma or a detectable paraprotein. Furthermore, we have shown the clonality of the amyloid-producing plasma cells within a skin nodule of a patient with primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis; by contrast, clonal rearrangement was not detected in bone marrow cells from this patient. This finding provides definitive proof that organ-limited nodular primary localized cutaneous amyloid deposits arise in relation to cutaneous plasmacytomas. Gene rearrangement studies may enable early diagnosis and initiation of treatment in patients with systemic amyloidosis L, as well as their differentiation from patients with organ-limited nodular cutaneous amyloidosis, who do not require aggressive therapy.

Tissue vitronectin in normal adult human dermis is non-covalently bound to elastic tissue.

Vitronectin is a multifunctional human plasma glycoprotein that is also found in constant association with elastic tissue fibers in normal adults. We have investigated the nature of the association of vitronectin with elastic tissue, and compared it to that of other elastic fiber-associated proteins, namely fibrillin and amyloid P component. Samples of normal human dermis were incubated with a variety of extraction agents, including high molar salt solution, non-ionic detergent (Nonidet P-40), the reducing agents dithiothreitol or 2-mercaptoethanol, and the chaotropic agents sodium dodecyl sulfate or guanidine hydrochloride. Vitronectin purified from serum typically migrates as two bands of 75 and 65 kD. By contrast, immunoblotting studies of residual dermal material after extraction with the various agents revealed only lower molecular weight (58, 50, 42, 35, and 27 kD) anti-vitronectin reactive bands. Although these bands may represent degradation products of vitronectin generated as a result of the extraction procedure, we cannot exclude the possibility that tissue vitronectin is distinct from plasma vitronectin. Anti-vitronectin reactive polypeptides co-migrating with the 58-, 50-, and 42-kD bands were solubilized following extraction with sodium dodecyl sulfate or guanidine hydrochloride, but not with the other extraction agents. Immunofluorescence studies using residual dermal material after extraction with guanidine hydrochloride demonstrated a marked reduction in elastic fiber staining intensity with anti-vitronectin and anti-amyloid P component, but not with anti-fibrillin. Thus the majority, if not all of dermal vitronectin, is, like amyloid P component, non-covalently associated with, and not an integral constituent of, elastic fibers.