Soles Of Patients Research Articles

Pranic Healing as a Complementary Therapy in Diabetic Foot Ulcer Management: A Randomised, Controlled, Double-Blind Trial.

Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs), a serious complication of diabetes, have limited solutions in conventional therapies. The condition needs holistic management of blood glycemic levels; foot wounds; and possible regeneration of nerves in the soles of patients. To evaluate the efficacy of Pranic Healing as a complimentary therapy in managing Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs). Thirty diabetic subjects already on standard therapy for Diabetes, co morbidities and wound care for Diabetic Foot Ulcers were assigned on a 1:1 basis to the trial and control groups. While both groups continued to receive standard therapy, the trial group additionally received Pranic Healing therapy. The Clinician, nursing staff, assessors and patients were blinded. Pranic Healers carried out healing on the trial group remotely, every day for 50 to 60 minute for stress, diabetes, local wound healing, blood cleansing and regeneration of nerves in the soles. The efficacy variables were the mean change from baseline in wound parameters and grade of DFU, overall well-being and HbAlc levels. At the end of the trial, about 83.33% participants in the trial group demonstrated lowering of size and severity of the ulceration and improved to a lower grade of DFU compared to 44.4% in control group. The trial group reported a significant reduction in wound area and HbA1c levels. The trial group showed better readings for improved sensory perception in the soles through changes in the large fibre dysfunction and damaged nerves as compared to the control group. Approximately 76.9% of participants in the trial group reported lower stress levels compared to 22.22% in the control group. Pranic Healing intervention can be a safe and effective adjunct in managing Diabetic Foot Ulcers.

Development and evaluation of adsorption sheet (HD safe sheet-U) using active carbon for the purpose of the preventing the contamination diffusion of urinary excreted anticancer drug

BackgroundCertain amount of anticancer drugs is excreted in the urine of patients receiving anticancer drugs, and urinary scattering including anticancer drugs at excretion has become a route of anticancer drug contamination. Therefore, we developed an active carbon sheet (HD safe sheet-U) that prevented diffusion by adsorbing anticancer drugs including that excreted in urine. The present study conducted a performance evaluation of this sheet.MethodsThe adsorption performance of active carbon to anticancer drug in the urine was evaluated by determining concentration changes in the active carbon suspension (5 mg/mL) of 14 kinds of anticancer drugs (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, carboplatin, cisplatin, methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, cytarabine, gemcitabine, doxorubicin, epirubicin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, etoposide, and irinotecan) diluted with artificial urine. Adhesion of the anticancer drug dropping on the sheet to a slipper sole was evaluated because urine including anticancer drugs is scattered on the floor, which can spread by adhering to shoe soles of patients and healthcare workers. The performance of the active carbon sheet was compared with two other types of medical adsorption sheets used as control sheets. Anticancer drugs diluted with artificial urine (1 mL) were dropped on the active carbon sheet and the two control sheets. The sheets were trod with slippers made by polyvinyl chloride. The adhered anticancer drug was wiped off and its quantity was determined.ResultsA remarkable decrease in anticancer drug concentrations, except for cisplatin, was detected by mixture of active carbon in the artificial urine (0–79.6%). The quantity of anticancer drug adhesion to slipper soles from the active carbon sheet was significantly lower compared with that observed for the two control sheets for eight kinds of anticancer drugs (cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, carboplatin, methotrexate, cytarabine, gemcitabine, doxorubicin, and docetaxel). There was no adhesion in cyclophosphamide and docetaxel. Furthermore, the quantities of adhesion in cytarabine, gemcitabine, doxorubicin, paclitaxel, and irinotecan were lower than determination limit.ConclusionActive carbon might be effective in adsorbing urinary anticancer drugs. The active carbon sheet adsorbed urinary excreted anticancer drugs, and use of such sheets might prevent diffusion of contamination due to urinary excreted anticancer drugs.

Increased expression of IL‐17A and limited involvement of IL‐23 in patients with palmo‐plantar (PP) pustular psoriasis or PP pustulosis; results from a randomised controlled trial

Palmo-plantar pustular psoriasis (PPPP) and palmo-plantar pustulosis (PPP) are chronic skin diseases with significant impact on quality of life. The purpose of this study was to study the efficacy of ustekinumab in PPPP and PPP and gain more knowledge on the pathophysiology and the role of the interleukin-23 (IL-23) signalling pathway in these diseases. Thirty-three patients with either PPPP (20) or PPP (13) and seven volunteers with normal palmo-plantar skin were recruited. Patients with PPP or PPPP were randomised (1:1) to receive either an anti IL-12/IL-23 antibody (ustekinumab 45mg) or placebo at day 0 and week 4 with subsequent placebo cross-over to ustekinumab at week 16. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients randomized to ustekinumab achieving a 50% improvement in the Palmo-Plantar Pustular Area and Severity Index (PPPASI-50) as compared to placebo. Skin biopsies of the palms and soles of normal subjects and patients with PPP or PPPP were performed and analysed by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients randomised to ustekinumab as compared to those randomised to placebo achieving PPPASI-50 at week 16 for patients with PPPP (10%, 20%; P=1.000) or PPP (20%, 37.5%; P=1.000) respectively. Compared to normal subjects an 89-fold increase in IL-17A expression was found in palms/soles of patients with PPPP (P=0.006) and a 190-fold increase for patients with PPP (P=0.051). There were no statistically significant changes in cytokine expression at week 16 in the palms and soles of patients with PPP or PPPP. Taken together these results suggest that ustekinumab at a dose of 45mg has limited efficacy in PPPP and PPP. IL-17A may have a more important role than IL-23 in patients with PPPP and PPP. Conclusions are limited by the small sample size of this study.

Differential protein expression profile in skin biopsies from patients with hand-foot syndrome who have benefited from topical heparin treatment.

9641 Background: Hand-foot syndrome (HFS) is a dose-limiting toxicity of capecitabine (CAP), leading to significant morbidity in patients receiving this agent. Interruption or dose reduction of CAP is the only effective strategy. The purpose of our study is to define the pathophysiology and risk factors predictors of CAP-induced HFS. Previously, we had conducted a clinical trial in patients who developed HFS secondary to CAP. Topical heparin was administered in palms and soles of patients four times/day for three weeks (w), evidencing clinical improvement in 99% of patients. Methods: Paired-skin biopsies of palms at baseline and after 3w from 21 patients were obtained. An iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation) proteomics approach was performed to identify molecular pathways associated with HFS reversion. Results: Comparative analysis between baseline and post-treatment skin samples identified 1876 proteins with high confidence (> 99%). The involvement of the identified proteins in biological networks served to characterize molecular pathways associated with HFS reversion. Conclusions: Several proteins identified in this study have a close relationship with keratinocyte terminal differentiation and keratinocyte intercellular strength. Also, we describe differential expression among proteins involved in inflammatory processes, skin immunity and cell death. In summary, our study not only served to uncover molecular mechanisms associated with HFS reversion, but also to reveal the biomarker role of several proteins in this syndrome. [Table: see text]

The prevalence of melanocytic nevi on the soles in the Japanese population

Acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is the most common type of melanoma in Japan. The association between ALM and acral nevus has not been elucidated. To investigate the prevalence and dermatoscopic patterns of plantar melanocytic nevi on the soles in the Japanese and to evaluate the relationship between acral nevi and ALM. All outpatients (N = 1697) and melanoma patients (N = 104) were included. We examined the number, size, and dermatoscopic images of nevi. In the control group, the prevalence of plantar nevi was 10.9%, and the mean size was 3.8 +/- 2.4 mm. The prevalence of nevi in patients with ALM and melanoma in situ on the soles was 8.6% and that of patients with melanoma on other sites was 14.5%. The main dermatoscopic pattern was "parallel furrow" in both groups. This was a clinical observational study only. The number, size, and dermatoscopic patterns of nevi on the soles of patients with ALM and melanoma in situ on the soles did not differ from those of the control group.

Amino Acid Analysis of the Horny Layer of the Soles of Patients with Hereditary Palmoplantar Keratoderma

The amino acid composition of keratin from soles of patients suffering from hereditary palmoplantar keratoderma of the Unna Thost variety was investigated. Patients were divided into two groups: those without dermatophytosis and those whose hereditary palmoplantar keratoderma was complicated with a dermatophyte infection. The amino acid composition of the horny layer was compared to that of control individuals and to a previously performed analysis of mammalian hair. However, no difference was found between the groups nor was any explanation as to why Trichophyton mentagrophytes occurred significantly more often in soles of patients with hereditary palmoplantar keratoderma made apparent.