Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to U Søderberg.
Three cases of pathomimia are presented. The lesions are described and the characteristic lack of response to even prolonged treatment is illustrated. Interpretation of automanipulation as a cutaneous symptom of a psychopathological condition is discussed. The therapeutic success depends upon the psychiatric treatment which is difficult to carry out as it is frequently contrary to the patient's wishes.
We followed a number of in vitro parameters in nine adult patients with atopic dermatitis for a period of 3 weeks during which the patients took herbal drugs that are claimed to improve chronic eczema. The following investigations were performed weekly: blood leucocytes, circulating eosinophils, serum IgE, mitogen responsiveness of lymphocytes, interleukin 1 release, soluble interleukin 2 receptor levels in serum, and in vitro histamine release from basophils in blood. The study demonstrated increased levels of IgE in six patients, increased levels of soluble interleukin 2 receptor in six patients, and a significant correlation between the amount of IgE in serum and the maximal release of histamine from basophils in blood. In this open study five patients experienced a clinical worsening of their disease during the intake of herbal medicine. All other parameters were within normal levels. There was no significant change in the in vitro parameters during the observation period.
Sensory and pain thresholds to cutaneous argon laser stimulation were determined in patients with post-herpetic neuralgia before and during treatment with topical capsaicin. Before treatment both thresholds were significantly elevated on the affected side compared to the contralateral normal area. After one week of capsaicin treatment both thresholds were significantly increased compared to the pre-treatment values, and the subjective pain relief, measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS) was 24%. More than 10% decrease in VAS pain score was obtained by 62.5% of the patients. Laser stimulations at levels at which the sensory and pain thresholds are reached were initially described as burning or stinging with pain projecting outside the stimulated area. This allodynia to laser stimulations changed during capsaicin treatment towards normal sensory and pain perception qualities. Both sensory and pain thresholds and the subjective pain score evaluated on a visual analogue scale were attenuated during the capsaicin treatment, suggesting a significant role of the cutaneous sensory and pain receptors in postherpetic neuralgia.
Histamine release from dispersed skin mast cells may be used for functional studies on the mast cell. However, technical difficulties have hampered such studies. In the present study a new fiberglass-based histamine assay was applied to previously described dispersion techniques, using excision biopsies from 7 patients with urticaria pigmentosa, 3 with psoriasis as well as 4 with urticaria. However, sufficient mast cell numbers for performing histamine release could only be obtained from patients with urticaria pigmentosa. The average mast cell yield was 935 +/- 470 cells (mean +/- SD) per mg wet weight of tissue. The skin mast cells from these patients responded with dose-dependent histamine release to anti-IgE, calcium ionophore A23187, and N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine challenge without previous passive sensitization. The pattern of histamine release of mast cells and corresponding blood basophils did not indicate substantial differences between the two cell types.