Zeitschrift fur Hautkrankheiten最新文献

At the Control Center for Veneral Diseases of the Vienna Health Office, 5000 examinations for Chlamydia infection were performed on registered and non-registered prostitutes between 1980 and 1988. During this period, we observed a continuous decrease of the rate of infections from 20.4% to 4% among registered prostitutes and from 31.4% to 12.4% among non-registered prostitutes. Between 1985 and 1988, the cumulative number of HIV infections only rose from 7 to 8 cases among registered prostitutes and from 2 to 3 cases among non-registered prostitutes. All these HIV carriers were associated with i.v. drug abuse. The correlations between these two infections as well as the implications regarding health politics are discussed.

Since its discovery in 1983, a lot of knowledge about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been accumulated. Our paper gives a brief survey on what is known at present about the structure, molecular biology, and the cell tropism of this virus. We discuss its relationship to other lentiviruses as well as its possible origin; in addition, we refer to the immune response to HIV and its interactions with the infected host. We also briefly summarize the difficulties encountered in the attempts to produce a vaccine against HIV and highlight some promising approaches in the development of such a vaccine.

Two groups of patients with chronic plaque psoriasis were topically treated either with 10% cyclosporin in a jelly base or with 5% cyclosporin in an ointment base under occlusion. We found that cyclosporin penetrates into the lower epidermis and the dermis, when it is applied under occlusion. Obviously, the target cells are neutrophil granulocytes, since they decrease in number under cyclosporin, whereas the other inflammatory cells as well as the epidermal proliferation remain unchanged. In contrast to systemic application of cyclosporin, we did not observe any clinical differences between plaques treated with cyclosporin and those treated with placebo.

In concentrations usually achieved in vivo, extracts of mistletoe (e.g. Iscador) exert no direct action on melanoma cells or human fibroblasts in tissue cultures. Only very high concentrations of Iscador in combination with prolonged incubation time (over several days) resulted in damaging the cells irreversibly. Therefore we are not able to confirm the suggestion that mistletoe extracts exert a deleterious action selectively on malignant cells.

A 56-year-old patient suffering from porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) was sufficiently treated with chloroquine and occasional bleeding. After 19 months of therapy, the laboratory finding showed absolutely normal values, whereas the clinical symptoms still persisted. Intensive exploration led to the diagnosis artefacts clinically imitating florid PCT remarkably well.

EGF-like factors (EGF-F) in tissue extracts make use of the EGF receptor system (EGF-R) in order to transmit biological signals. EGF-F, which partly show transforming activities, can be detected with the help of an EGF receptor assay. We measured the EGF concentrations in extracts of 25 benign, 5 semi-malignant, and 13 malignant skin tumors, as well as in 5 biopsies of normal skin. The highest amounts of EGF-F were found in malignant melanoma (10 ng/mg) and in squamous cell carcinoma (7 ng/mg). The EGF-F concentrations in benign and semi-malignant tumors, in contrast, were similar to those found in normal skin (up to 4 ng/mg). Isoelectric focusing (IEF) revealed that the activity of EGF-F malignant tumors consists of various components.

The toxicological, pharmacological, and clinical properties of corticoids are well understood. As their main actions are based on an uniform mechanism, it is impossible to separate beneficial effects from side effects. Therefore, any augmentation of the therapeutic activity is associated with an increased risk of side effects in systemic as well as in topical use. The topical application of highly potent corticoids also bears the risk of systemic side effects, especially those with prolonged activity. In addition, it has to be kept in mind that apart from the skin, the functions of various organs can be unfavorably affected when corticoids are systemically applied.