Abstract. Glerup H, Mikkelsen K, Poulsen L, Hass E, Overbeck S, Thomsen J, Charles P, Eriksen EF (University Hospital of Aarhus, and Primary Health Care Centre, City Vest, Aarhus, Denmark). Commonly recommended daily intake of vitamin D is not sufficient if sunlight exposure is limited. J Intern Med 2000; 247: 260±268.Objectives. Sunlight exposure of the skin is known to be the most important source of vitamin D. The aims of this study were: (i) to estimate vitamin D status amongst sunlight-deprived individuals (veiled Arab women, veiled ethnic Danish Moslem women and Danish controls); and (ii) through food intake analysis to estimate the oral intake of vitamin D necessary to keep a normal vitamin D status in sunlight-deprived individuals. Design. Cross-sectional study amongst randomly selected Moslem women of Arab origin living in Denmark. Age-matched Danish women were included as controls. To control for racial differences, a group of veiled ethnic Danish Moslem women (all Caucasians) was included. Setting. Primary

SummaryStereology applied on histological sections is the 'gold standard' for obtaining quantitative information on cancellous bone structure. Recent advances in micro computed tomography ( µ CT) have made it possible to acquire three-dimensional (3D) data non-destructively. However, before the 3D methods can be used as a substitute for the current 'gold standard' they have to be verified against the existing standard. The aim of this study was to compare bone structural measures obtained from 3D µ CT data sets with those obtained by stereology performed on conventional histological sections using human tibial bone biopsies. Furthermore, this study forms the first step in introducing the proximal tibia as a potential bone examination location by peripheral quantitative CT and CT. Twenty-nine trabecular bone biopsies were obtained from autopsy material at the medial side of the proximal tibial metaphysis. The biopsies were embedded in methylmetacrylate before µ CT scanning in a Scanco µ CT 40 scanner at a resolution of 20 × 20 × 20 µ m 3 , and the 3D data sets were analysed with a computer program. After µ CT scanning, 16 sections were cut from the central 2 mm of each biopsy and analysed with a computerized method. Trabecular bone volume (BV/TV) and connectivity density (CD) were estimated in both modalities, whereas trabecular bone pattern factor (TBPf) was estimated on the histological sections only. Trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), number (Tb.N) and separation (Tb.Sp), and structure model index (SMI) were estimated with the µ CT method only. Excellent correlations were found between the two techniques for BV/TV ( r = 0.95) and CD ( r = 0.95). Additionally, an excellent relationship ( r = 0.95) was ascertained between TBPf and SMI. The study revealed high correlations between measures of bone structure obtained from conventional 2D sections and 3D µ CT data. This indicates that 3D µ CT data sets can be used as a substitute for conventional histological sections for bone structural evaluations.

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Eight substances (histamine, compound 48/80, kallikrein, trypsin, papain, substance P, serotonin and platelet activating factor) were injected intradermally (volume 50 microl) into the rostral back (neck) of rats in order to establish an animal model for peripherally elicited pruritus. While serotonin induced excessive scratching at the site of injection, the other substances were weak or inactive. The dose-response relationship of serotonin was sigmoid, EC50=2.1 mg/ml (95% confidence interval: 1.0 to 4.3 mg/ml). Injections of serotonin 1 mg/ml into the caudal back elicited no scratching at all, i.e. neither at the site of injection nor elsewhere, so the experiment indicated no systemic effect of serotonin 1 mg/ml intradermally. Scratching was probably elicited histamine-independently, since histamine itself did not elicit scratching. The intra- and inter-observer variations were 3-4%. We conclude that serotonin is a reproducible local pruritogen eliciting scratching in the rat. The model may be useful in research and development of topical antipruritics of the nonhistaminic type as well as for various other purposes in pruritus research.