Interleukin-10 secretion from CD14+ peripheral blood mononuclear cells is downregulated in patients with acne vulgaris.

BACKGROUND: Acne is a common chronic inflammatory dermatosis of the pilosebaceous unit. It is characterized by seborrhoea, comedone formation and an inflammatory response consistent with defective cellular immunity to Propionibacterium acnes. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the immune reactivity of patients with acne compared with healthy controls by examining the response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to stimulation with P. acnes. Particular focus was placed upon measuring the production of interleukin (IL)-10, which has an established immunoregulatory role. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Venous blood was collected from 47 patients with acne and 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls with no prior history of acne. PBMCs were cultured and their cytokine response to P. acnes investigated. RESULTS: Proinflammatory IL-8 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha secretion from PBMCs was higher in patients with acne when stimulated with P. acnes. In contrast, a statistically significant reduction in PBMC secretion of anti-inflammatory IL-10 in patients with acne was identified. The impaired production of IL-10 by PBMCs from patients with acne was confined to CD14+ cells presumed to be monocytes. The ability of CD14 cells from patients with acne to phagocytose P. acnes bacteria was also observed to be defective but the addition of exogenous IL-10 to PBMC cultures restored phagocytic activity. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that patients with acne have a proinflammatory cytokine milieu and crucially are unable to contain early inflammatory changes due to a specific defect in immunosurveillance, namely low monocyte IL-10 production. Our observations raise the possibility that acne therapeutics might profitably target IL-10 both as a regulator of proinflammatory cytokines and in augmenting the CD14+ cell phagocytic response.

[Chronic lower back pain: a new therapeutic approach]. / Lombalgies chroniques: une autre approche thérapeutique.

Lower back pain is a common complaint of patients seen in our consultations. Despite progress, surgical procedures are still often unsuccessful in relieving pain. Blocks performed in the epidural spaces or more often in the articular facets have provided poor relief of chronic lower back pain. The pain has vegetative components. Considering anatomic findings, we describe the innervation of the peridiscal tIssues which suffer during degenarative conditions. We analyze the course of the autogenic nerves mediating lumbar pain, and select the site of the blocks necessary to obtain optimal selective pain relief. A well-defined block at the level of the communicating rami is described.

A potentially underrecognized and treatable cause of chronic back pain: entrapment neuropathy of the cluneal nerves.

We describe a case of longstanding low back pain related to entrapment neuropathy of the L1-L2 dorsal ramus over the iliac crest. As 3 local anesthetic pain blocks (at the trigger point, 7 cm left of the L5 spine process and just above the iliac crest) were successful for 3 weeks each, a surgical procedure was performed. This corrected patient stricture of a voluminous dorsal ramus within a rigid osteofibrous orifice between the upper rim of the iliac crest and the thoracolumbar fascia. Pain decreased dramatically the same day and disappeared completely within less than a week.

Low-grade spinal epidural infection. Report of a case.

A case of spinal epidural sepsis with an unusually indolent course is reported. Four months elapsed between onset of symptoms and initiation of treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging findings were atypical, with a gadolinium-enhanced hyposignal on T1 images but no hypersignal on T2 images. The difficulty of the diagnosis is illustrated by a review of the recent medical literature.

[Magnetic resonance imaging for lumbar disk pathology. incidence of false negatives]. / Imagerie par résonance magnétique pour pathologie discale lombaire. Fréquence des faux-négatifs.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has had an impressive impact on evaluation of degenerative diseases of the spine. Nevertheless, false negatives can occur on images involving lumbar discs. Degenerative disc diseases documented on discrography and/or pathology examination of the discs can go unrecognized. Likewise sensitivity for the detection of protruding discal hernias is not totally satisfactory (20% false negatives). Finally, a magnetic resonance image visualizing displacement of the disc is not specific (10 to 15% false positives); images showing protrusion or hernia can be seen in 30% of asymptomatic patients. Although MRI gives slightly more information than other imaging techniques, false images do exist. Moreover, the usefulness of MRI to demonstrate disc disease in case of a negative CT-scan remains to be demonstrated.

[Peripheral neurologic complications of brachial plexus blocks]. / Complications neurologiques périphériques des blocs du plexus brachial.

Nerve injury can arise as a complication of peripheral nerve block anesthesia. From the review of the literature remain three factors which alone or in combination, are of special etiologic interest: nerve lesion due to the needle or intraneural injection; toxic effects of the agent injected overall when epinephrine is used; ischemic trauma. The symptoms of such nerve lesions vary from light paresthesia to painful dysesthesia and motor weakness or paralysis. The clinical analysis of these complications does not differ from that in other neurological patients, but must be realized effectively and immediately for avoiding a lawsuit. These postanesthetic neuropathies may benefit from specific treatment or even surgical exploration and external neurolysis. The block should be handled with care: rough paresthesia seeking and intraneural injections should be avoided; short bevel needles and plane solutions should be preferred.

[Injuries of the upper end of the tibia in children. With the exclusion of fractures of the tibial shaft]. / Les traumatismes de l'extrémité supérieure du tibia chez l'enfant. A l'exclusion des fractures des épines tibiales.

We review 58 cases of proximal tibial fractures in children. Their evolution and prognostic depend on the localisation. The intra epiphyseal fractures have a good prognostic if care is taken in reduction of the great deplacement fractures: as well as the epiphyseal plate fractures. The upper anterior tibial apophysis fractures have been reduced and screwed without any genu recurvatum sequellae. Severe growth disorder may follow proximal tibial contusions without parallelism regarding to them. Among the iatrogenic causes of these contusions, the trans-tibial pine traction may induce a genu recurvatum even far from the tibial tubercle: so we must avoid this method. The proximal metaphyseal tibial fractures and the valgus deformity following them represents a high difficult treatment. This deformity often recurs after osteotomy (with the risks of the operation). Anyway the tibia valga disappears spontaneously. Its evolution shows that it has a double origin: the fracture displacement then the medial overgrowth epiphyseal plate. The first cause can be treatment actually in order to limit the final valgus by closed reduction with anesthesia.