Leukocytes derived from the peripheral blood of psoriatic patients demonstrated an enhanced chemotactic response compared with leukocytes from healthy subjects. No significant difference was detected between the chemotactic response of leukocytes from patients with minimal or no skin involvement and those from patients with extensive lesions. Psoriatic leukocytes also had a significantly higher capacity to engulf 125I labeled Shigella flexneri than control leukocytes. It is postulated that a decrease in the cyclic AMP/cyclic GMP ratio in psoriatic leukocytes, similar to the imbalance of these 2 cyclic nucleotides found in the lesional epidermis of psoriasis, might be the cause of their enhanced chemotactic and phagocytic activities.

The psychological aspects of essential hyperhidrosis, while long recognized, have been minimally investigated. This study compares the personality features of hyperhidrotic subjects to those of normal subjects and persons suffering from dermatological disorders of nonpsychogenic etiology, using the Shanan Sentence Completion Technique, Stein Self Description Questionnaire, Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Rorschach Test. Hyperhidrotic subjects differ significantly in their lower overall coping ability, avoidance patterns of defense and tendency towards impulsivity and poorly-integrated emotional response but not in their lower than expected level of manifest anxiety. It is suggested that essential hyperhidrosis is based on a genetic predisposition to excessive emotional sweating. Developmental factors, underlying psychological conflicts and stressful life situations is all likelihood determine the extent to which this predisposition is symptomatically manifested. The role of psychotherapeutic and behavioral techniques in the conservative treatment of the disorder and in future research, is seen as strengthened by these findings.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 was isolated and identified from the vesicular border of pyoderma gangrenosum lesions on the genital region of a patient with chronic lymphatic leukemia. Dramatic relief of pain as well as quick disappearance of the vesicular margin of the lesions and of the inflammatory halo around them occurred as a result of local treatment with a solution of zinc acetate. A careful search for a viral agent should be done in every case of pyoderma gangrenosum occurring in a patient with a hematological malignancy or/and impaired immunity, especially if the lesions are on the face or in the genital region.

Monocytes derived from the peripheral blood of psoriatic patients demonstrated a significantly higher phagocytic capacity (36 to 40%) for both 125I-labeled Shigella flexneri and 125I-labeled Staphylococcus albus compared with monocytes from healthy subjects. Monocytes from psoriatic patients showed a 2-to-4fold increase in bactericidal capacity against S. albus when compared with normal monocytes. However, the bactericidal capacity of monocytes from diphylline-treated patients did not differ from that of the control subjects. The antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity against EL4 tumor cells was found to be similar in both psoriatic patients and control subjects. It is postulated that these abnormalities of monocyte function in psoriasis are caused by a decreased cAMP/cGMP ratio similar to the decreased cAMP/cGMP ratio found in the lesional epidermis of this disease. It seems therefore, that the psoriatic abnormality is not confined to only one type of cell, the epidermal cell.

Leukocytes derived from the peripheral blood of 10 patients with acne conglobata demonstrated enhanced chemotactic and random migratory activities in comparison with leukocytes from 10 healthy subjects. This enhancement is most probably secondary to the state of chronic infection and inflammation. These findings probably rule out a defect in leukocyte motility as a cause of the severity of the lesions in acne conglobata.