This study confirmed the strong association between the HLA-B*58:01 and allopurinol-induced SCAR in Hong Kong Han Chinese patients. A screening test for the HLA-B*58:01 allele should effectively reduce the risk for allopurinol-induced SCAR in Chinese populations.

Chinese subjects show more rapid absorption of paracetamol, a tendency to produce less glucuronide but more sulphate conjugates and reduced production of cysteine and mercapturic acid conjugates. The latter may help to protect against hepatotoxicity following paracetamol overdose.

No abstract

Schizophrenia-like illnesses occur in a variety of medical and neurological conditions but to date have not been described in association with aceruloplasminemia. Aceruloplasminemia is an autosomal recessive disorder of iron metabolism which leads to iron deposition in the basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum and hippocampus and which usually presents in middle age with extrapyramidal symptoms and dementia. We describe a 21-year-old woman on treatment for aceruloplasminemia who presented with schizophrenia-like psychosis and declining function in the absence of neurological signs. Neuropsychological testing showed signifi cant dominant hemisphere defi cits. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral iron deposition in the cerebellar dentate nuclei and thalami, frontal atrophy, and periventricular white matter hyperintensities. Functional imaging suggested global hypoperfusion. The clinical, cognitive and imaging fi ndings were not typical for either aceruloplasminemia or schizophrenia alone and the possible relationship between the two disorders is discussed with particular reference to implications for our understanding of schizophrenia.

Data from pulse and continuous labeling with [3H]thymidine and from studies with monoclonal antibody WE3 have led to the modification of existing models and established concepts pertinent to understanding limb regeneration. Not all cells of the adult newt blastema are randomly distributed and actively progressing through the cell cycle. Instead, many cells are in a position that we have designated transient quiescence (TQ) and are not actively cycling. We postulate that cells regularly leave the TQ population and enter the actively cycling population and vice versa. The size of the TQ population may be at least partly determined by the quantity of limb innervation. Larval Ambystoma may have only a small or nonexisting TQ, thus accounting for their rapid rate of regeneration. Examination of reactivity of monoclonal antibody WE3 suggests that the early wound epithelium, which is derived from skin epidermis, is later replaced by cells from skin glands concomitant with blastema formation. WE3 provides a useful tool to further investigate the regenerate epithelium.