Cryptococcosis is a common fungal infection in immunocompromised patients, caused
by genus Cryptococcus, presenting with meningitis, pneumonia,
and skin lesions. Cutaneous presentation can be varied, but specifically in
solid organ transplant recipients (iatrogenically immunocompromised),
cryptococcosis should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of
cellulitis-like lesions, since the delay in diagnosis leads to worse prognosis
and fatal outcome. We report four cases of cryptococcosis with cutaneous
manifestation not only for its rarity, but also to emphasize the important role
of the dermatologist in the diagnosis of this disease.
Linear IgA dermatosis is a rare subepidermal autoimmune blistering disease
characterized by linear deposition of IgA along the basement membrane zone. In
the last three decades, many different drugs have been associated with the
drug-induced form of the disease, especially vancomycin. We report a case of
vancomycin-induced linear IgA disease mimicking toxic epidermal necrolysis. The
aim of this work is to emphasize the need to include this differential diagnosis
in cases of epidermal detachment and to review the literature on the subject and
this specific clinical presentation.
The neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to rodents leads to obesity in the adult animal, characterized by increased fat storages. Chronic food restriction is known to induce reduction in body energy expenditure, as an adaptive mechanism to save energy. Our purpose was to examine whether obesity can alter the mechanism of energy conservation in food-restricted animals. Newborn female Wistar rats were injected either MSG (obese) or saline (control). At the age of 90 days, the animals were fed daily ad libitum (control and MSG) or restricted (50%) (control-restricted and MSG-restricted). After 30 days the animals were sacrificed and the energy balance was determined by calorimetric analysis. Some parameters of energy balance and body composition were affected by MSG treatment as well as food restriction. The percent reduction of the energy expenditure and fat content in MSG-restricted animals was lower than control-restricted animals, when compared with their respective ad libitum groups. These results indicate that all food-restricted animals were able to develop the mechanism of energy conservation, regardless of the obesity, but it was less efficient in MSG-obese animals.
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