Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 7 Articles
Background: Lack of guidelines on control of pediculosis in the Solomon Islands led to a search for relevant\nevidence on head lice in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). The aim of this search was to\nsystematically evaluate evidence in the peer reviewed literature on pediculosis due to head lice (Pediculus humanus\nvar capitis) in the 22 PICTs from the perspective of its value in informing national guidelines and control strategies.\nMethods: PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL and Scopus were searched using the terms (pediculosis OR head lice)\nAND each of the 22 PICTs individually. PRISMA methodology was used. Exclusion criteria were: i) not on topic;\nii) publications on pediculosis not relevant to the country of the particular search; iii) in grey literature.\nResults: Of 24 publications identified, only 5 were included. Four related to treatment and one to epidemiology.\nNone contained information relevant to informing national guidelines.\nConclusions: Current local evidence on head lice in the PICTs is minimal and totally inadequate to guide any\nrecommendations for treatment or control. We recommend that local research is required to generate evidence on:\ni) epidemiology; ii) knowledge, attitudes and practices of health care providers and community members; iii)\nefficacy of local commercially available pharmaceutical treatments and local customary treatments; iv) acceptability,\naccessibility and affordability of available treatment strategies; and iv) appropriate control strategies for families,\ngroups and institutions. We also recommend that operational research be done by local researchers based in the\nPICTs, supported by experienced head lice researchers, using a two way research capacity building model....
Background: Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) impair quality of life, including reduction in employment or job\nduties. The PRESTA (Psoriasis Randomized Etanercept STudy in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis) study, a randomized,\ndouble-blind, two-dose trial, examined the efficacy of etanercept treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe\nplaque psoriasis and PsA and the main results have been presented previously. This analysis examined employment\nstatus, job duties and sick days, pre-defined endpoints in PRESTA, among this patient population.\nMethods: Participants (N = 752) were randomized to receive etanercept 50 mg twice weekly (BIW; n = 379) or 50 mg\nonce weekly (QW; n = 373) for 12 weeks by subcutaneous injection. All participants then received open-label\netanercept 50 mg QW for 12 additional weeks, while remaining blinded to the randomization. A pharmacoeconomic\nquestionnaire was administered at baseline, week 12 and week 24 of treatment. The questionnaire included\nemployment status and changing job responsibilities and sick time taken due to psoriasis or PsA. The statistical\nmethods included analysis of covariance, t-test, Fisherââ?¬â?¢s exact test and McNemarââ?¬â?¢s test. Last-observation-carried-forward\nimputation was used for missing data.\nResults: Employment was at least maintained from baseline to week 24 in both dose groups (56% [BIW/QW] and\n60% [QW/QW] at baseline, 61% and 60%, respectively, at week 24). Among employed participants, the proportion of\npatients whose job responsibilities changed due to PsA decreased significantly from baseline to week 24 (17ââ?¬â??23% to\n5ââ?¬â??8%; p < 0.01). Similar results were seen with job responsibility changes due to psoriasis (11ââ?¬â??14% to 4%; p < 0.01).\nThe number of monthly sick days also decreased from baseline to week 24 (2.4 days for both treatment groups to\n0.7 (BIW/QW) and 1.1 (QW/QW); p ? 0.03 for each). No significant differences between the treatment groups were\nobserved for any economic endpoint at any time point.\nConclusions: For patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and PsA, etanercept treatment resulted in reducing\njob responsibility changes due to disease and in reducing sick time. Effective treatment of psoriasis and PsA may reduce\nmissed work days....
Background: Polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis (DM) are idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Genetic\nvariability in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PM and DM.\nHowever, few studies on the subject in Chinese populations have been reported thus far.\nMethods: We studied the influence of HLA polymorphisms on DM and PM susceptibility by analyzing HLA-DRB1,\nHLA-DQA1, and HLA-DQB1 alleles in 71 adult DM patients, 20 adult PM patients, and 113 controls in a Han Chinese\npopulation.\nResults: A positive association was found between HLA-DQA1*0104 and DM (p = 0.01; corrected p (pcorr) NS;\nodds ratio (OR) = 2.58; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18ââ?¬â??5.64), while an inverse correlation was noted between\nHLA-DQB1*0303 and myositis patients with interstitial lung inflammation (p = 0.01; pcorr NS; OR = 0.25; 95% CI:\n0.07ââ?¬â??0.73). A positive relationship was also observed between HLA-DRB1*07 and DM (p = 0.01; pcorr NS; OR = 2.26;\n95% CI: 1.12ââ?¬â??4.59), while HLA-DRB1*03 seems to be protective against DM (p = 0.01; pcorr NS; OR = 0.26; 95% CI:\n0.06ââ?¬â??0.81). The lung complication was closely associated with HLA-DRB1*04 (p = 0.01; pcorr NS; OR = 2.82; 95% CI:\n1.15ââ?¬â??6.76) and HLA-DRB1*12 (p = 0.02; pcorr NS; OR = 2.52; 95% CI: 1.02ââ?¬â??6.07). The frequency of HLA-DRB1*07 was\nsignificantly higher among myositis patients with dysphagia than among controls (p = 0.01; pcorr NS; OR = 4.78;\n95% CI: 1.03ââ?¬â??24.42). The putative haplotype DRB1*07-DQA1*01-DQB1*02 was positively correlated with DM (p = 0.03;\npcorr NS; OR = 2.90; 95% CI: 1.02ââ?¬â??8.93) and the lung complication (p = 0.02; pcorr NS; OR = 3.45; 95% CI: 1.04ââ?¬â??11.58).\nConclusions: Our results demonstrate that HLA alleles may be involved in susceptibility to adult DM and PM in the\nHan Chinese population....
Background: Asian-Americans represent the fastest growing minority group in the United States, but are\nunder-represented patients in outpatient dermatology clinics. At the same time, skin cancer rates in individuals of\nAsian descent are increasing, but skin cancer detection appears to be delayed in Asian-Americans compared to white\nindividuals. Some health-care provider related factors for this phenomenon have been reported in the literature, but\nthe patient-related factors are unclear.\nMethods: This exploratory study to identify patient-related factors associated with dermatology visits in Asian-Americans\nwas performed after Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. An anonymous, online survey utilizing validated items was\nconducted on adults who self-identified as Asian-American in Northern California. Univariate and multivariate logistic\nregression for dermatology visits as indicated by responses to the question of ââ?¬Å?ever having had skin checked by a\ndermatologistââ?¬Â were performed on survey responses pertaining to demographic information, socioeconomic factors,\nacculturation, knowledge of melanoma warning signs and SSE belief and practice.\nResults: 89.7% of individuals who opened the online survey completed the items, with 469 surveys included in\nthe analysis. Only 60% reported ever performing a SSE, and only 48% reported ever having a skin examination by\na dermatologist. Multivariate models showed that ââ?¬Å?ever performing SSEââ?¬Â (p < 0.0001), marital status (p = 0.02), family\nhistory of skin cancer (p = 0.03) and generation in the United States (p = 0.02) were significant predictors of the primary\noutcome of ââ?¬Å?ever had skin checked by a dermatologistââ?¬Â.\nConclusions: Identification of patient-related factors that associate with dermatology clinic visits in Asian-Americans is\nimportant so that this potential gap in dermatologic care can be better addressed through future studies....
Background: Micro RNAs (miRs) have emerged as key regulators during oncogenesis. They have been found to\nregulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Mir-125b has been identified as an oncomir in various\nforms of tumours, but we have previously proposed that miR-125b is a suppressor of lymph node metastasis in\ncutaneous malignant melanoma. Our goal was therefore to further examine this theory.\nMethods: We used in-situ-hybridization to visualise miR-125b expression in primary tumours and in lymph node\nmetastasis. Then using a miRVector plasmid containing a miR-125b-1 insert we transfected melanoma cell line\nMel-Juso and then investigated the effect of the presence of a stable overexpression of miR-125b on growth\nby western blotting, flow cytometry and ?-galactosidase staining. The tumourogenicity of the transfected cells\nwas tested using a murine model and the tumours were further examined with in-situ-hybridization.\nResults: In primary human tumours and in lymph node metastases increased expression of miR-125b was found in\nsingle, large tumour cells with abundant cytoplasm. A stable overexpression of miR-125b in human melanoma cell\nline Mel-Juso resulted in a G0/G1 cell cycle block and emergence of large cells expressing senescence markers:\nsenescence-associated beta-galactosidase, p21, p27 and p53. Mel-Juso cells overexpressing miR-125b were\ntumourigenic in mice, but the tumours exhibited higher level of cell senescence and decreased expression of\nproliferation markers, cyclin D1 and Ki67 than the control tumours.\nConclusions: Our results confirm the theory that miR-125b functions as a tumour supressor in cutaneous malignant\nmelanoma by regulating cellular senescence, which is one of the central mechanisms protecting against the\ndevelopment and progression of malignant melanoma...
Background: Vitiligo is a chronic depigmenting skin disorder which affects around 0.5-1% of the world�s population.\nThe outcome measures used most commonly in trials to judge treatment success focus on repigmentation.\nPatient-reported outcome measures of treatment success are rarely used, although recommendations have been made\nfor their inclusion in vitiligo trials. This study aimed to evaluate the face validity of a new patient-reported outcome\nmeasure of treatment response, for use in future trials and clinical practice.\nMethod: An online survey to gather initial views on what constitutes treatment success for people with vitiligo or their\nparents/carers, followed by online discussion groups with patients to reach consensus on what constitutes treatment\nsuccess for individuals with vitiligo, and how this can be assessed in the context of trials. Participants were recruited\nfrom an existing database of vitiligo patients and through posts on the social network sites Facebook and Twitter.\nResults: A total of 202 survey responses were received, of which 37 were excluded and 165 analysed. Three main\nthemes emerged as important in assessing treatment response: a) the match between vitiligo and normal skin (how\nwell it blends in); b) how noticeable the vitiligo is and c) a reduction in the size of the white patches. The majority of\nrespondents said they would consider 80% or more repigmentation to be a worthwhile treatment response after\n9 months of treatment. Three online discussion groups involving 12 participants led to consensus that treatment\nsuccess is best measured by asking patients how noticeable their vitiligo is after treatment. This was judged to\nbe best answered using a 5-point Likert scale, on which a score of 4 or 5 represents treatment success.\nConclusions: This study represents the first step in developing a patient reported measure of treatment success\nin vitiligo trials. Further work is now needed to assess its construct validity and responsiveness to change....
Background: Epidermodysplasia verruciformis is a rare genodermatosis characterized by a unique susceptibility to\ncutaneous human papillomaviruses infection. Most patients show autosomal recessive patterns of inheritance.\nCase presentation: We report a case of two sisters with clinically epidermodysplasia verruciformis specific lesions\non the face, neck, trunk, and extremities. PCR analysis indicated the presence of human papillomavirus type 5 in the\nlesions. Electron microscopic examination showed viral-like particles in keratinocyte nuclei and the stratum corneum of\nthe epidermodysplasia verruciformis lesions. In addition, we examined the EVER1 and EVER2 genes using eight different\nprimer pairs without finding any nonsense or frameshift mutations in the gDNA from lymphocytes of the elder sister.\nConclusions: In this report, the patient�s parents did not have epidermodysplasia verruciformis lesions or a\nconsanguineous marriage. EV did not develop in the elder sister until five years of age, so the parents did not perceive\nEV as an inherited disease. The probability that EV developed in both sisters was only 6.25%. Thus, it is rare for both\nsisters to develop epidermodysplasia verruciformis lesions considering that the parents were presumed to be carriers\nand the disease reveal an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance....
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