Contact allergy (CA), a pathologic response after (usually repeated) contact to environmental substances of low molecular weight occurring in a varying proportion of exposed persons, often results in clinical disease, allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), which can be disabling. CA is diagnosed by patch testing, a technique of controlled exposure of patients suspected to have ACD to a standardized...

The aim of this review is drawing the attention to the contact dermatitis, an inflammatory skin condition due to pro-inflammatory and toxic factors able to activate the skin innate immunity (irritant contact dermatitis) or caused by a T-cell- mediated hypersensitivity reaction (allergic contact dermatitis). The immune system involvement and a variety of clinical pictures are described in order ...

To illuminate the anti-allergy mechanism of astragaloside IV (AS-IV), we assessed its effects in a murine model of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). AS-IV administered in the sensitization phase, rather than in the elicitation phase, dramatically alleviated the symptoms of allergic inflammation. We hypothesized that AS-IV exerts its anti-allergy effects by regulating the production of key pro-...

Allergic contact dermatitis is a common skin disease, which affects approximately 20% of the population. This reaction may present with several clinical manifestations. Erythema multiforme-like allergic contact dermatitis is a rare type of non-eczematous contact dermatitis, which may lead to difficulty in diagnosis.Essential oil of Laurus nobilis is widely used in massage therapy for antiinflam...

are important factors in the elicitation of contact dermatitis. Our current data show that patients with a history of using temporary black henna tattoos are often highly sensitized to PPD after exposure to such high concentrations and require only very low concentrations of PPD for elicitation of an allergic response. As the current practice of using PPD 1% pet. often results in unacceptably s...

Contact dermatitis or eczema is a polymorphic inflammation of the skin. It occurs at the site of contact with irritating or antigenic substances. In the acute phase there is occurrence of itching erythema, papules, and vesicles, whereas in the chronic phase there is dryness, hyperkeratosis, and sometimes fissures. Contact dermatitis can be divided into irritant and allergic types. Allergic cont...

Various adverse cutaneous reactions may occur as a result of exposure to wood dust or solid woods. These include allergic contact dermatitis, irritant contact dermatitis and, more rarely, contact urticaria, photoallergic and phototoxic reactions. Also cases of erythema multiforme-like reactions have been reported. Contact dermatitis, both allergic and irritant, is most frequently provoked by ex...

Over the past 60 years, dose-response patch test studies by various methods have been conducted in an attempt to identify the minimum elicitation threshold (MET) concentration of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) that produces an allergic response in Cr(VI) sensitive subjects. These data are not adequate, however, to provide an accurate estimate of the MET because of the variability in the patch tes...

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease characterized by wet, oozing, erythematous, pruritic lesions in the acute stage and xerotic, lichenified plaques in the chronic stage. It frequently coexists with asthma and allergic rhinitis, sharing some mechanistic features with these diseases as part of the "atopic march." Controversy exists as to whether immune abnormalities, epi...

When one or two drops of a dilute, non-irritating solution of 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) is applied to a small area of skin of the intact guinea pig, about 20 per cent of the applied material, or some derivative of it, is soon excreted in urine. In normal, as well as in specifically sensitized guinea pigs, DNCB at the site of local application becomes rapidly bound to skin protein through ...