BACKGROUND Alopecia areata (AA) is believed to be an organ-specific autoimmune disease in which a mononuclear cell infiltrate develops in and around anagen hair follicles. There is no definitive therapy for AA. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether the combination therapy of cyclosporine and psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) could be an effective treatment for severe AA. METHODS A total...

Furocoumarin-induced DNA damage, monoadducts, and cross-links were measured in normal human, xeroderma pigmentosum, and Panconi's anemia cells after exposure to near-UV (356 nm). At similar concentrations and near-UV doses, photoad dition by 8-methoxypsoralen was twice that by angelicin and the substitution of bromodeoxyuridine for thymidine in one strand of DNA did not alter the binding. The r...

Sixty-two strains of Gibberella pulicaris (anamorph: Fusarium sambucinum) from diseased plants and from soil were tested for tolerance of the furanocoumarin xanthotoxin in vitro. Twenty-one (88%) of the plant-derived strains and two (5%) of the soil-derived strains were highly tolerant ofxanthotoxin. Sixteen selected strains were tested further against 16 furanocoumarins or furanocoumarin precu...

We have previously isolated from Fanconi anemia, complementation groups A (FA-A) and D (FA-D) cells, a DNA endonuclease complex which is defective in its ability to incise DNA containing interstrand cross-links produced by psoralen plus UVA light. The repair capabilities of the FA complexes, compared with those of the corresponding normal complex, have now been examined using two types of compl...

We report a simple and rapid procedure for assaying 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The standard curve for the assay is linear for 8-MOP from 15 to 500 micrograms/L (y = 0.002x-0.01, r = 0.99) with a lower limit of detection of 1.5 micrograms/L. Intra-assay precision (CV) was 6.0% at the 100 micrograms/L concentration and 10.0% at 50 microgr...

An in vivo photomicronucleus test (MNT) using rat skin, the target organ for photoirritancy and carcinogenicity, was recently described. The assay was evaluated using fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotics with varying degrees of phototoxic potency (i.e. sparflocacin [SPFX], lomefloxacin [LOFX], ciprofloxacin [CIFX], levofloxacin [LEFX], gemifloxacin [GEFX] and gatifloxacin [GAFX]) using a solar simu...

Autodigestion of rat liver nuclei in magnesium-containing buffers leads to the release of about 80% of DNA-dependent RNA polymerases I and II, together with 4 to 8% of the DNA. The RNA polymerases are at least partially DNA bound as judged by the effect on in vitro transcription of (1) Actinomycin D, (2) preirradiation of the enzymes in the presence of 8-methoxypsoralen and (3) heparin. The rel...

AIM Evaluation of narrow band ultraviolet B (NB UVB 311 nm) in the treatment of vitiligo by two independent studies. The first study compared NB UVB with a well-established therapeutic modality, psoralen ultraviolet A (PUVA), and the second study was conducted to find out whether psoralen might add to its efficacy. METHODS In the first study, 15 patients were exposed on the left half of their...