Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology最新文献

Background: Environmental contamination is a significant global health issue, with cosmetics and pharmaceuticals being major polluters. High concentrations of heavy metals, such as Hg, have been found to have toxic effects and may pose a threat to human health. This study aimed to determine the concentration of mercury (Hg) in lipsticks available in the Saudi Arabia market.

Methods: In this study, 12 lipstick samples from three colors were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) to measure the content of Hg.

Results: The concentration range of Hg was 0.004-0.296 ppm. Moreover, the systemic exposure dosage of mercury in the lipstick samples examined in this study ranged from 5.01 × 10^-8 to 1.43 × 10^-6 μg/kg bw/day, while the range of the margin of safety was from 7.3 × 10⁹ to 2.2 × 10⁸.

Discussion: The Hg concentration in all analyzed samples was less than 0.50 and 1 ppm, which indicated that the Hg level was within acceptable limits according to Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation (SASO) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA), respectively. On the other hand, the calculated margin of safety values for mercury exceeded the safe standard established by the WHO. The results derived from using hazard quotient (HQ) indices depict the potential carcinogenic health risk posed to consumers who employ red-colored lipsticks.

Aim: There is no marker that can predict whether there is resistance to treatment in patients with psoriasis. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the staining rates of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-12, IL-17, IL-23, and IL-36 markers immunohistochemically from cutaneous biopsy and the treatment success.

Methods: The patients who were followed up in the dermatology clinic with the diagnosis of plaque-type psoriasis vulgaris and received biological treatment and previously had cutaneous biopsy were included in the study. The cutaneous biopsies of the cases that met the conditions were re-sectioned and subjected to immunohistochemical examination for TNF-α, IL-1, IL-12, IL-17, IL-23, and IL-36.

Results: Comparing the staining scores with psoriasis area severity index (PASI); A statistically significant positive correlation was found between PASI and TNF-α staining score (p = 0.034). A statistically significant positive correlation was found between PASI and IL-17 staining score (p = 0.004). When the staining scores and PASI response rates of psoriasis treatment were evaluated in terms of correlation; there was a positive correlation between TNF-α, IL-17, and IL-23 immunohistochemical staining rates and PASI response rates.

Conclusions: In line with the data obtained from our study, we think that making immunohistochemical scoring before the biological treatment decision in psoriasis patients will be beneficial in treatment selection. In this respect, our study may open a new era in the selection of biological treatments for psoriasis.

Purpose: The study aims to investigate changes in tear function, meibomian glands and corneal endothelium in patients receiving systemic isotretinoin therapy.

Materials and methods: This prospective study included 38 eyes from 38 patients (23 females and 15 males) treated with systemic isotretinoin (0.5-1 mg/kg/day) following the diagnosis of acne vulgaris. All patients underwent a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination at baseline, 1st month, and third month of treatment. Subjective complaints were assessed using the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI). Tear functions were evaluated through non-invasive tear break up time (NIBUT) and Schirmer I test. Meibomian gland (MG) changes were examined using meibography. Corneal parameters, including endothelial cell density (ECD), coefficient of variation (CV), the number of cells with a hexagonal shape (6A), average cell area (AVG), and central corneal thickness (CCT) were assessed using non-contact specular microscopy.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 19.29 ± 2.83 years. Ocular surface-related discomfort, measured with OSDI scores, significantly worsened at the third month measurements compared to the pre-treatment values (p < 0.001). In the 1st month of treatment, there was a significant decrease in NIBUT (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in the Schirmer test results at each visit. According to the 1st and third-month analysis, there was a significant increase in MG loss compared to the pre-treatment period (p < 0.001). ECD, CV, 6 A, AVG measurements at the first and third months showed a significant change compared to the pre-treatment values (p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed in the CCT measurements during the treatment.

Conclusion: Systemic isotretinoin disrupted tear stability, caused MG loss, deterioration in corneal endothelium, and led to symptomatic complaints in patients.

Purpose: Psoriasis, affecting approximately 2% of the world's population, often necessitates systemic treatments, with methotrexate (MTX) as a cornerstone therapy. Despite documented systemic side effects of MTX, concerns about its impact on male reproductive health persist. We aim to investigate low-dose MTX effect on hormonal, cellular and functional ability of male reproductive system.

Materials and methods: Our prospective study on 40 male psoriasis patients receiving low-dose MTX (<15mg/week) comprehensively investigates its effects on erectile function, sex hormones, and spermiogram parameters.

Results: After six months of MTX treatment, a significant decline in erectile function (p < 0.001) decreased total testosterone levels (p = 0.03) were observed. No significant reduction in sperm count was noted after six months of MTX treatment.

Conclusions: Our study highlights a significant decline in erectile function following low-dose MTX therapy, warranting further investigation into this potential side effect. While reassuring for sperm quantity and quality, the findings emphasise the necessity for larger cohorts and longer follow-up times to validate results and comprehend the complex interactions between MTX and male sexual health.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of topically applied 1% tropicamide, 2.5% phenylephrine and 1% cyclopentolate on retinal vessel calliper (VC) using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods: Patients who came to the ophthalmology clinic for routine examination and whose OCT films were taken before dilatation and after 30 min of last dilatation drop were included in the study. 90 ophthalmologically healthy subjects were divided into 3 groups of 30 subject each according to the application of the drops as follows: Tropicamide group (Group 1), Phenylephrine group (Group 2), Cyclopentolate group (Group 3). The right eyes of the subjects were dilated with drops and the left eyes were taken as the control group. VC of retinal artery and vein passing through an area one-half to one-disc diameter from the optic disc margin were measured from OCT films. The mean of the sum of superior retinal artery (SRA) and inferior retinal artery (IRA) VC and the mean of the sum of superior retinal vein (SRV) and inferior retinal vein (IRV) VC before and after the drop were compared.

Results: There was no statistically significant change in the mean sum of SRA and IRA VC and the mean sum of SRV and IRV VC before and after dilatation drops in all three groups.

Conclusion: Dilatation drops have no statistically significant effect on retinal artery and vein VC.

Purpose: This study aims to examine and compare the effects of intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) at subfoveal 1500 micron (μm) and submacular 6000 μm in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Methods: Fifty eyes of 45 patients with DME who completed six doses of IVB were included in the study group, and 50 eyes of 42 patients who had diabetic retinopathy (DR) but did not receive any treatment were included in the control group. Central macular thickness (CMT), central choroidal thickness (CCT), subfoveal and total choroidal area (TCA), and choroidal vascular index (CVI) were calculated and their changes at zero, three and six months were evaluated.

Results: At baseline, CVI was significantly lower in both the subfoveal and total macular areas in the study group (p = 0.004, p = 0.003). In the study group, a significant decrease was observed in CVI between zero and six months in the subfoveal area (p = 0.001). In the submacular area, the decrease in CVI in the study group was significant between zero to three months and zero to six months. There was moderate correlation between measurements of CVI in the subfoveal and total macular areas (r = 0.66, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: These findings indicate that intravitreal bevacizumab injection reduces the CVI and the effects of intravitreal anti-VEGF on CVI emerge earlier and more prominently in the submacular 6000 µm area.

Introduction: This work was to explore the efficacy and safety of self-made WenyangJianpi-qushi Decoction plus mometasone furoate cream in atopic dermatitis (AD) of spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation type. Material and method: 120 patients with this kind of atopic dermatitis were grouped: The Observation group (disease health education + basic treatment + mometasone furoate cream + self-made Decoction) and The Control group (disease health education + basic treatment + mometasone furoate cream), 60 cases in each group. The SCORAD score, serum IgE level, peripheral blood eosinophils, adverse events, recurrence rate, and total effective rate after treatment were observed.Result: Through treatment, SCORAD score of the observation group (29.96 ± 2.88) was lower as against controls (36.04 ± 3.12), p < 0.05. Through treatment, the peripheral blood eosinophil count in the observation group was (311.26 ± 50.19) 10⁶/L, which was lower than (582.71 ± 54.75) 10⁶/L in controls; the serum lgE of the observation group was (712.44 ± 93.32) IU/mL, which was lower than the controls (890.12 ± 81.25) IU/mL, p < 0.05. The Observation group (56/60, 93.33%) demonstrated superior total effective rate to the controls (34/60, 56.67%); The recurrence rate of the observation group was 4/60 (6.67%), which was lower than the controls 16/60 (26.67%), p < 0.05.Conclusion: Self-made WenyangJianpi-qushi Decoction plus mometasone furoate cream to treat atopic dermatitis of spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation type has significant efficacy and good safety.

Objective: To study the ocular effects seen among eye cosmetic wearers in the Indian Population.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on female participants who had fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A detailed history was obtained and thorough ophthalmic evaluation was done. Mann Whitney U test was used. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS. p < .05 was taken as the level of statistical significance.

Results: Among a total of 225 participants in our study, the mean age was 24.23 ± 1.8, which comprised of young student females. Majority of the females used one eye cosmetic with Kajal (n = 156) being the most predominant. Most frequently encountered symptom upon using eye cosmetics was watering from eyes and ocular pain was the least encountered symptom. Anterior segment examination showed- allergic conjunctivitis and meibomian gland dysfunction being the most and least predominant, respectively. Our study highlights that Kajal predisposes the eyes to significant ocular morbidity with p = .039 for dry eye disease, p = .041 for allergic conjunctivitis, p = .036 for conjunctival pigmentation. Prolonged use of such formulations for more than 4 times a week (p = .046) or even daily (p = .031) for a duration of either 1-5 years (p = .033) or greater than 5 years (p = .027) was found to be statistically significant in causing ocular signs. Non removal of eye cosmetics at the end of the day was significant in causing allergic conjunctivitis (p = .035) and conjunctival pigmentation (p = .021). Plain tap water has been found to be the least effective technique in the removal of such ocular cosmetics with a statistical significance of p = .031 in causing ocular signs.

Conclusions: Eye cosmetics are a significant contributor to the development of ocular surface diseases. Removal of products along with decreased usage seems to be a significant contributor in dampening unwanted adverse effects.

Background/ objectives: Rosacea is a common chronic inflammatory skin disorder. Endocrinedisrupting chemicals (EDC) are toxic substances, that may gain entry through the skin and subsequently interfere with hormonal and immune functions. Bisphenol A (BPA) and pentachlorophenol sodium (PCS) are two of these EDCs, incriminated in the pathogenesis of certain inflammatory skin disorders. We aimed to test the hypothesis that exposure to BPA and PCS might be involved in the pathogenesis of rosacea.

Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study involved 34 patients with rosacea (18F/16 M; mean age 48.5 ± 11 years) and 34 age and sex-matched healthy controls (20 F/14 M; mean age 48.2 ± 10.2 years). Main anthropometric measures, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), insulin, HOMA-IR, lipids, C-reactive protein (CRP), BPA, and PCS levels were quantified and recorded.

Results: Serum CRP (9.6 ± 3.4 vs. 3.7 ± 1.6 mg/L, respectively, p0.05 for all). Serum BPA levels were 55.8 ± 14.4 and 51.9 ± 19.2 ng/mL, and PCS levels were 63.3 ± 45.9 ng/mL and 68.6 ± 40.8 ng/mL for patients and healthy controls, respectively. There was no significant difference in BPA and PCS levels between the two groups (p > 0.05 for both). No significant association was found among HOMAIR, CRP, BPA, and PCS levels (p > 0.05 for all).

Conclusions: Although the present study fails to provide presumptive evidence for the role of BPA and PCS in rosacea, the question as to other EDCs might be involved in its etiopathogenesis remains. This hypothesis requires confirmation in large-scale future prospective trials.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of pooled human immune globulins, Flebogamma^® 5% DIF and Flebogamma^® 10% DIF, administered by topical ophthalmic instillation to New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits.

Methods: Male NZW rabbits were used in this study. In the acute single dose tolerability study, rabbits (n = 12) received a single topical dose of Flebogamma^® 5% DIF. In the two-week repeated-dose tolerability study, rabbits (n = 5 for each group) were administered either Flebogamma^® 5% DIF or Flebogamma^® 10% DIF by topical bilateral administration four times daily (q.i.d.) between 8 am and 6 pm for a period of two weeks. Full ophthalmic examinations were conducted to evaluate ocular tolerability at baseline, Day 7, and Day 14.

Results: In the acute single dose study, mild hyperaemia was observed in 1 out of 4 eyes at each 4 h and 24 h post-instillation of Flebogamma^® 5% DIF. In the repeated dose study, no ocular signs were detected after q.i.d. topical instillation of Flebogamma^® 5% DIF, while Flebogamma^® 10% DIF resulted in mild hyperaemia in 8 out of 10 eyes on Day 7, and 5 out of 10 eyes on Day 14. No positive corneal fluorescein staining was detected. Schirmer tear test results were unremarkable. No other ocular signs were observed. Administration of immune globulins had no effect on intraocular pressure.

Conclusions: Flebogamma^® 5% DIF and Flebogamma^® 10% DIF were well-tolerated by NZW rabbits following single and repeat dose topical ophthalmic administration, supporting the future development of topical pooled human immune globulins for the treatment of ocular surface disease.