No statistically significant nor clinically relevant difference in efficacy was seen between the combined formulation used once daily and twice daily. When compared to vehicle ointment or calcipotriol ointment alone, the combined formulation was shown to be clearly more efficacious.

The present study shows that in addition to a significant improvement of psoriasis and AD, NB-UVB treatment effectively corrects vitamin D insufficiency. It also increases cathelicidin and decreases HBD2 levels in healing skin lesions of psoriasis and AD. This effect might be mediated by improved vitamin D balance and the local cytokine network.

A susceptibility gene for psoriasis, a chronic skin disorder, resides in chromosome 6p near the HLA-C locus. Sequencing of the region has allowed the identification of a new gene, HCR. We found that HCR is highly polymorphic with at least 12 coding variants. An association study of the new HCR polymorphisms and the previously suggested susceptibility alleles HLA-Cw*0602 and corneodesmosin allele 5 (CD*5) with psoriasis revealed a specific HCR variant associated with psoriasis susceptibility. However, the HLA-Cw*0602 allele was rarer in controls and associated with a stronger relative risk. Association analysis did not support CD*5 as a psoriasis susceptibility allele in our sample of patients (n = 100) and population-matched controls (n = 93) from an isolated population. We found HCR to be overexpressed in keratinocytes of psoriatic lesions compared with paired samples of healthy skin. Our results suggest a potential role for HCR in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

BF-200 ALA showed a trend towards improved efficacy results compared with MAL. Thicker lesions in both groups responded when treated repeatedly. Importantly, a thin 0·25-mm layer of the photosensitizer precursors was sufficient, which may lead to lower expense.

In this study we determined the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the XPG gene on DNA repair and breast cancer susceptibility. Ninety individuals, with previously studied DNA repair rate at 24 hr of 2 types of UV-specific cyclobutane pyrimidines dimers (CPDs) in skin were genotyped for XPG polymorphism at codon 1104 (exon 15 G>C; Asp > His). The repair rate of TT‫؍‬C dimer was similar in both wild-type GG homozygotes and GC heterozygotes, whereas, for TT‫؍‬T, dimer repair was non-significantly ( Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a crucial DNA repair mechanism, which counteracts the consequences of mutagenic exposure of cells. 1 NER systems recognise the DNA damage, incise the DNA strand on both sides of the lesion, remove the oligonucleotide containing the damage and re-synthesise the fragment. 2 In humans, a defective NER pathway can result in the rare disease xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), which is mainly characterised by extreme UV-sensitivity and a high incidence of sunlight-induced skin cancers. Seven XP complementation groups have been identified, XPA to XPG, representing the malfunctioning proteins in the NER mechanism. 3 The XPG gene is responsible for XP complementation group G 4 and encodes a 1186 amino acid structure-specific endonuclease that is essential for the 2 incision steps in NER. [5][6][7] The protein shares 2 regions of extensive homology with other nucleases like the yeast DNA repair protein RAD2 and the bacteriophage T4 RNase H. These enzymes have a preference for cleaving DNA at junctions of single-stranded to double-stranded DNA, such as those found in flap and bubble structures. 8,9 In human cells, XPG catalyses incision at approximately 5 nucleotides 3Ј to the site of damage but is also involved non-enzymatically in the subsequent 5Ј incision. 6,7 Various studies have shown the existence of a large interindividual variation in DNA repair capacity and the individuals with less dramatic reduction in the capacity to repair DNA are observed at polymorphic frequency. 10 Such individuals with repair capacity below the population mean can be at increased risk of developing cancers of various kinds. 11 It is likely that SNPs in the coding and regulatory DNA sequences may result in a subtle structural alteration of the DNA repair enzyme involved in NER and modulation of cancer susceptibility. 12,13 SNPs are the most common sequence variations observed in the DNA sequence. 10 Recent studies have identified many single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes that encode various repair enzymes and subsequent case-control studies have associated various SNPs with different cancer types. [13][14][15] Hitherto, no major study has been carried out on genetic variations in the XPG repair gene. In the present survey, we have focused on the previously identified SNPs in the gene. The XPG gene, located on chromosome 13q22, contains 15 exons and 2 earlier described SNPs are located in exons 2 (T335C; His46His) 4 and 15 (G3507C; Asp1104His). 6,7,16 Two additional SNPs in the coding sequences were found ...

A 2-week course of HT significantly improved vitamin D balance by increasing serum calcidiol concentration, and caused a marked healing of AD. These parallel positive responses should be taken into account when the benefits of HT are considered.

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