IMPORTANCE A rare variant of mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is characterized by circulating anti-laminin 332 (Lam332) autoantibodies and seems to be associated with concurrent malignant neoplasms. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and clinical significance of anti-Lam332 autoantibody detection from a large series of patients with MMP. DESIGN Multicenter retrospective study. SETTING ...

INTRODUCTION The anterolateral thigh perforator flap (ALT) represents the workhorse for most reconstructive efforts in the head and neck regions. The main advantages of this flap are its versatility, the length of the pedicle, and the low morbidity of the donor site. The major drawback is the bulkiness of this flap with the frequent need for secondary revisions. To overcome this, we have develo...

Autoimmunity to type-WI collagen is characterized by autoantibodies predominantly of lgG class to the non-collagenous domain of type-WI collagen present in the anchoring fibrils which bind basement membrane lamina densa to the anchoring plaques in the dermis. This results in a sublami.na densa split with a blister formation. Type WI collagen autoim.munity is heterogenous in its clinical spectru...

Ameliorative effect of exogenously applied glycinebetaine (GB) on photosynthetic capacity of two wheat cultivars differing in salt tolerance grown under salt stress was assessed. Plants were grown under field conditions at 2.84, 15 dS/m in split-split plot design. Different levels of GB (no spray NS, 0.1% Tween 20 solution, 50 and 100 mM GB in 0.1% Tween 20 solution) were exogenously applied as...

The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of skin thickness on the in vitro permeabilities of 3 model drugs with different physicochemical properties (nicorandil (NR), isosorbide dinitrate (ISDN) and flurbiprofen (FP)) through Sprague-Dawley rat (rat) or Yucatan micropig (YMP) skin. Intact, dermis-split, stratum corneum-stripped or stratum corneum-stripped and dermis-split rat or Y...

All 306 South African platinum refinery workers (116 white, 190 coloured) accepted for employment on grounds of absence of evidence of atopy were investigated using the skin prick test and RAST to detect sensitivity to platinum, palladium, and rhodium salts. RAST studies were made for these, together with HSA and DNP-HSA RAST. Of the 306 workers, 38 had a positive skin prick test to the platinu...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between anthropometric variables and total race time including split times in 184 recreational male Ironman triathletes. METHODS Body mass, body height, body mass index, lengths and circumferences of imbs, thicknesses of skin-folds, sum of skin-fold thicknesses, and percent body fat were related to total race time including split t...

Several clinical research studies have demonstrated that chronic cutaneous wounds can be treated with hair follicle grafts. However, the clinical outcomes of hair follicle grafting compared to split-thickness skin grafting have not been examined. This study sought to compare the clinical outcomes of patients with chronic wounds following hair follicle therapy and split-thickness skin graft ther...

BACKGROUND Skin grafting is a relatively simple and thus widely used procedure. However, the elastic and structural quality of grafted skin is poor. Recently, various dermal substitutes have been developed to overcome this disadvantage of split-thickness skin grafts. The present study aims to determine the feasibility of RapiGraft as a new dermal substitute. METHODS This prospective study inc...