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Botulinum toxin A is widely used in Europe and the USA for the treatment of localized hyperhidrosis, and its efficacy has been recognized. In this study, botulinum toxin A (Botox) was locally injected at 30 sites (2 U/injection) on the right palm in 27 patients with palmar hyperhidrosis (14 severe patients, 13 mild patients), and the results confirmed the efficacy of injection. The amount of sweat was then quantified for the left and right hands every month after local injection. The quantity of sweat on the treated hand was approximately one-fifth that on the untreated hand. In addition, the quantity of sweat on the untreated hand decreased slightly. Over time, the quantity of sweat on the treated hand increased slightly, but the quantity of sweat on the treated hand at 6 months after injection was less than half that before injection, and there were significant differences before and after injection. In the present study, severe sweating was defined as 1 mg/cm2/min or more and mild sweating as less than 1 mg/cm2/min, and the therapeutic effects of botulinum toxin A were analyzed in relation to severity. When compared to the mild cases, the quantity of sweat remained higher in the severe cases after botulinum toxin A therapy. Therefore, to achieve satisfactory effects in severe cases, it would be necessary to increase the number of injection sites, as well as injection dose.

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) is endemic in southwestern Japan, the Caribbean basin, and parts of central Africa, and is considered to be caused by long-term infection with human T-cell leukemia virus type I. CD204 is a scavenger receptor that is overexpressed on alternatively activated macrophages and is known to be overexpressed in tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). CD206 is also considered a marker of alternatively activated macrophages. However, no studies have investigated CD206 and TAMs. In the present study, we investigated the significance of CD204(+) and CD206(+) TAMs in ATLL tissue samples. We also investigated the correlations with the Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67LI) and the number of CD31(+) vessels. We found that the number and ratio of CD204(+) TAMs were closely associated with the Ki-67LI, which reflects lymphoma cell proliferation. The number of CD31(+) vessels was not correlated with the number or ratio of CD204(+) and CD206(+) TAMs. The number and ratio of CD204(+) and CD206(+) TAMs, number of CD31(+) vessels, and the Ki-67LI were not associated with the clinical outcome of patients with ATLL. Although further studies are necessary to uncover the detailed mechanisms of CD204 and lymphoma proliferation, these data may provide novel insight into the pathogenesis of ATLL.

Ho monopnictides (Ho Pn: Pn = N, P, As, Sb, and Bi) and monochalcogenides (Ho Ch: Ch = S, Se, and Te) are known to possess a nontrivial magnetic structure, while solid-phase HoO has not been synthesized yet. In this study, a rock salt-type HoO epitaxial thin film was grown by using the pulsed laser deposition method, which had a bandgap of 0.11 eV and tunable electrical conduction via its oxygen nonstoichiometry. Its Curie temperature, above 130 K, was much higher than those of Ho Pn and Ho Ch, most likely due to an enhanced direct exchange interaction. Similar to Ho Pn and Ho Ch, a HoO thin film showed a metamagnetic behavior below the Curie temperature in spite of its dominant ferromagentic ordering.

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