SEARCH · PubMed Health
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
BACKGROUND: Molluscum contagiosum has a worldwide occurrence and its primary mode of transmission is via direct human contact including sexual means. The aim of the study was to implement a polymerase chain reaction-based assay for detection and subtyping of Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) in skin lesions diagnosed with molluscum contagiosum in a large regional teaching hospital in Turkey. METHODS: For this purpose, a total of 61 patients were included in the study. Randomly selected single lesion from each patient was used to extract DNA material and a specific PCR reaction amplifying 393-bp- and 575-bp-long regions from MCV genome was used in the detection. Subtyping was carried out by digestion of the amplified 575-bp product with restriction endonuclease enzyme BamHI. Both amplified and restriction enzyme digested products visualized on agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: All 61 molluscum cases (100%) included in the study contained MCV genetic material as demonstrated by the presence of 393- and 575-bp-long PCR amplified products. Restriction enzyme BamHI digestion of the 575-bp-long amplicon indicated that the infecting subtype in all the cases (100%) was MCV subtype I. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study demonstrate that subtype I is the only infecting strain dominant in our region. Because the only consecutive molluscum patients admitted to our hospital were included in the study, our data do not rule out the possibility that other genotypes might be present in the Turkish population. However, it is not unreasonable to conclude that similar trends exist in the rest of the country. Results also show that a molecular-based diagnostic assay would be feasible in cases where diagnosis was deemed necessary.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Molluscum contagiosum, a condition characterized by benign viral tumours, occasionally becomes inflamed and regresses spontaneously, an event probably initiated by a host cell-mediated immune rejection against the lesion, but it inevitably involves the disruption of the epidermal tissue to expose the molluscum bodies to the tissue fluids of the dermis. It has been suggested that the molluscum bodies induce inflammation by a mechanism similar to that involved in ruptured epidermal cysts or in acne. Despite the occasional development of inflammation in molluscum contagiosum, the proinflammatory properties of molluscum bodies have never been studied in vitro. Thus, in the present study we sought to determine whether molluscum bodies exert a proinflammatory effect by inducing neutrophil chemotaxis. When exposed to fresh serum in vitro, water-insoluble components of molluscum bodies activated the alternative complement pathway to produce chemotactic C5a/C5a des Arg. We also found that an aqueous extract of molluscum bodies exerted potent chemotactic activity for neutrophils. Remarkably high amounts of the immunoreactive proinflammatory cytokines IL-8 and GRO alpha were present in the extract even when compared with psoriatic scale extracts. Gel filtration HPLC of the extract demonstrated the presence of neutrophil chemotactic activity over a wide range of molecular mass. These data suggest that disruption of the epidermal wall of molluscum bodies induces acute inflammatory changes by activation of the alternative complement pathway on exposure to the tissue fluids, and that the molluscum bodies themselves release proinflammatory cytokines and other neutrophil chemotactic factors on decomposition.
Our objective was to describe the demographics of molluscum contagiosum patients and physician utilization patterns in the United States. We obtained weighted data for office visits throughout the United States for molluscum contagiosum and common warts from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) from 1990 to 1999. Outpatient visit data for patients diagnosed with molluscum contagiosum were analyzed using statistical software and compared to those for patients diagnosed with common warts. The main outcome measures studied were physician office visits by patients with molluscum contagiosum and patient demographic parameters including age, gender, and race. We found that health care utilization for molluscum contagiosum was the greatest for patients <or=9 years of age (51%). Ninety-three percent of patients diagnosed with molluscum contagiosum were white. The number of visits for molluscum contagiosum was evenly divided between males and females. Visits to dermatologists comprised the majority of health care utilization units for molluscum contagiosum (71%). In conclusion, visits for molluscum contagiosum are frequent and are most often handled by dermatologists. When compared to those for common warts, molluscum contagiosum visits are less common and have an age distribution more limited to children.
Molluscum contagiosum is a common and self-limiting viral infection, that in HIV+ patients courses as an opportunist affection with atypical clinical features. Impaired cell-mediated immune response could be involved in such atypical growth. We evaluated the density and area of Langerhans cells (LC) using S-100 immunohistochemistry in seven atypical molluscum contagiosum. LC density was quantified by three different methods using computer-assisted morphometry as well as estimating the relative area of LC with respect to epidermal area. Results were compared with two control groups (normal skin specimens and molluscum contagiosum affecting non-AIDS healthy patients). We found a virtual absence of LC in areas of molluscum lesions affecting both HIV+ and non-AIDS patients. Likewise we observed an evident decrease in LC density in perilesional epidermis of atypical molluscum with respect to both control groups. Upon comparing the counts and areas, we observed that this reduction in LC count was statistically significant only when considering LC related to length of basement membrane in atypical molluscum with respect to normal skin specimens. Our finding of a reduced number of LC in the perilesional epidermis of HIV+ patients with atypical molluscum could explain the high frequency and clinical challenge of molluscum contagiosum in immunocompromised people. In spite of these results, further studies of LC kinetics and functions are required to precisely elucidate their role in the course of molluscum contagiosum in HIV+ patients.