Sir, Vitiligo is disfiguring in all races, particularly in patients with darker skin, because of stronger contrasts. Patients suffer from poor body image and low self-esteem and also experience a considerable level of psychological burden.[1] Moreover, in Iran, there is a strong negative public attitude toward this disease. Since ancient times, patients with vitiligo suffered the same mental ab...

BACKGROUND Progressive macular hypomelanosis is a common dermatosis in various continents. Its cause is unknown and proposed treatments have had little effect. OBJECTIVES To determine epidemiological aspects of progressive macular hypomelanosis in patients referred to a phototherapy clinic between 1997 and 2008 and to evaluate therapeutic response to PUVA (psoralen + UVA) photochemotherapy or...

BACKGROUND Psoriasis is difficult at times to treat and treatment failures are not uncommon regardless of approach. With the advent of expensive biologic therapies for psoriasis there is increasing discussion on the cost efficacy of a given systemic or biologic agent. An alternative and overlooked aspect of cost efficacy is the cost that accrues from treatment failures. METHODS We review the ...

Exposure to solar UVA (320-400 nm) radiation can damage DNA and lead to skin disorders. Conventional dosimetry using a single piece of polysulfone or diglycol carbonate (CR-39) cannot provide accurate measurement of the biologically effective irradiance for erythema for the UVA waveband. A package employing four dosimeters (polysulfone, nalidixic acid, 8-methoxypsoralen and phenothiazine) has b...

Monoclonal antibodies specific for DNA damaged by 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) plus ultraviolet A (UVA) light were used to study adduct formation in human keratinocytes and mouse and rat skin in vivo. This antibody does not cross-react with nonmodified DNA or free 8-MOP. Sensitive competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with color or fluorescence endpoints were used to quantitate adducts on...

Actas Dermosifiliogr. 2009;100:235-48 246 In view of the above it is possible to posit that our patient was simply experiencing an exceptional manifestation of familial psoriasis. The patient reported that private phototherapy sessions several years ago had led to apparent improvements in the lesion, although they had later reappeared. We initially administered broad-band UVB phototherapy with ...

There are 4 P450 oxygenases involved in the biosynthesis of T-2 toxin in Fusarium sporotrichioides. Exactly how these enzymes react to antimicrobial plant defense compounds is unknown. Xanthotoxin (8-methoxypsoralen) is a phototoxic furanocoumarin that acts as a P450 oxygenase inhibitor. The current study shows that the addition of concentrations of 1.0 mmol/L or less of xanthotoxin to liquid c...

The tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) is a potent lung carcinogen. Previously, we have demonstrated that NNK-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice depends on target-tissue bioactivation by pulmonary cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that mouse CYP2A5 plays an essential role in NNK bioactivation in m...