We report a patient presenting with a 20-year history of recurrent papulonecrotic lesions in which skin biopsy shows extensive vascular destruction. Atypical lymphoid cells surrounding the dermal vessels had a CD3+, CD4-, CD5-, CD8+, CD20-, CD30+, CD56+, TIA-1+, and granzyme B immunophenotype implicating a natural killer/T origin. In situ hybridization was negative for Epstein-Barr virus transcripts. Analysis of T-cell receptor-gamma gene of 2 separate biopsy specimens detected an identical clone. The patient was treated with low-dose methotrexate and achieved complete resolution in a month. According to the clinical course, immunophenotype, clonality analysis and the excellent response to methotrexate, we conclude that this is an unusual case of lymphomatoid papulosis. We believe that this unusual presentation needs to be distinguished from other aggressive lymphomas, including the natural killer/T-cell and cytotoxic T-cell subsets.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid contents in acid methanol extracts of 19 plant species grown and used in Taiwan. The antioxidant activity of leafy plant extracts was determined by measuring the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. Polyphenol, flavonol, and flavonoid levels were high in Sonchus oleraceus (SO), Ohwia caudate Thunb. Ohashi (OC), Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (FV), and Artemisia princeps Pamp. var. orientalis (Pamp.) Hars. (ArP, fresh) as compared to the rest of tested plants. In addition, quercetin, myricetin, and morin were abundant in Dendranthe mamori folium (Ramat.) Tzvelev. (DM, dry), FV, SO, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Moq.) Griseb. (AlP), ArP (fresh) and Lonicera japonica Thunb. (LJ). Higher levels of the TEAC, ORAC, and DPPH radical scavenger were generated from extracts of OC, SO, DM (dry), and ArP (fresh). Significant and positive correlations among antioxidant activity and polyphenols and anthocyanidins were observed. ORAC values were also correlated with quercitin and morin. Therefore, these phytochemicals were some of the main components responsible for the antioxidant efficacy of tested plants.

No abstract

Haplotypes have been repeatedly shown to be more powerful than collections of single-locus markers in gene-mapping studies. Various haplotyping methods including statistical estimation are employed but molecular haplotyping, the acquisition of information directly on physical DNA sequences, has been in demand for its accuracy and independence from family pedigrees. We investigated the allelic specificity of long-range PCR, which was successful for long-range haplotyping in recent reports, and found problems of initial mispriming and crossover amplification significantly confounded its application. Based on these observations, we designed a novel method based on linear amplification of a hemizygous DNA segment with a single phosphorothioate-modified oligonucleotide. Our results revealed, with a single nucleotide polymorphism as the discriminative marker, downstream haplotypes of 14-15 kb DNA segment could be confidently scored. With two rounds of the method and five single nucleotide polymorphisms, molecular haplotypes of 29.3 kb spanning the HCR and CDSN genes, two genes associated with the susceptibility of psoriasis, of 11 members, belonging to a CEPH family, were revealed. Clear Mendelian segregation of 35 highly heterozygous SNPs confirmed the accuracy of the method. Problems of low specificity associated with long-range PCR were not observed. The simplicity, along with long-sequence accessibility and feasibility of a single nucleotide difference as the discriminative marker indicated our method holds promise for future gene-mapping studies.