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Summary The activity and gene expression of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, an indicator of tumour promotion) were induced by the phorbol ester tumour promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), in mouse skin. In the present study, the effect of colchicine, a microtu-bule-disrupting agent, on ODC activity and its gene expression were investigated. On administration of colchicine (100 μg) intraperitoneally 1·5 h before TPA treatment, ODC activity and ODC mRNA levels stimulated by TPA were suppressed to about 52 and 64%, respectively. These results suggest the involvement of a microtubule or colchicine-sensitive substrate in the signal transduction system for gene expression.

Chemotherapy-induced acral erythema (CAE) is an uncommon and distinct reaction seen in patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy. The exact pathogenic mechanisms of this disorder are still unknown. We report a 27-year-old woman who presented with red, swollen and painful macules on both palms, clinically consistent with this disease. Histological examination demonstrated vacuolar degeneration of the basal cell layer and spongiotic blisters in the epidermis, especially in the atrophied eccrine ducts and papillary oedema with mild perivascular infiltration of mononuclear and hypersegmented neutrophils. Immunohistochemistry showed that the infiltrating mononuclear cells were CD3-CD16+CD56+ leucocyte function antigen-1+, possibly natural killer cells. The eccrine ducts expressed HLA-DR and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Our findings suggest that cell-to-cell interaction between NK cells and keratinocytes in the eccrine apparatus may induce CAE and may be involved in the pathogenesis of the skin reaction in our patient and possibly in this disease.

We describe a combined cutaneous hamartoma in a 57-year-old man, which comprised a vellus hair cyst, an epidermoid cyst and an intradermal melanocytic naevus in a single facial tumour. The vellus hair cyst was filled with keratinous material with unusual slit-like lacunae. While numerous cases of epidermoid cyst have been reported in association with an intradermal melanocytic naevus, our case is a rare example of a lesion combining several hamartomatous elements.

Three patients with subungual exostoses, two involving the great toe and one the fourth toe, are presented. Local excision was performed, and the specimens were processed for light and electron microscopy. Light-microscopic study revealed that the tumours consisted of a proliferative fibrocartilaginous cap that merged into mature trabecular bone at its base. Electron-microscopic examination revealed that the tumour was composed of two types of cells: one was rich in cell organelles including rough endoplasmic reticulum, well-developed Golgi apparatus, and glycogen granules; the other cell had few such cell organelles. The former cells seemed to be osteoblasts actively engaged in bone formation, and the latter to be osteocytes related to those situated deeper in bone matrix in normal bone. However, ossification or calcification in subungual exostosis is rather casual, and osteocytes in this disorder may lack the capacity to elaborate compact bone.

A 14-year-old boy with linear localized scleroderma had a dramatic improvement in contractures after treatment with N-(3',4'-dimethoxycinnamoyl) anthranilic acid (tranilast, Rizaben). The observation that this anti-allergic drug was effective in localized scleroderma lends further support to the concept that mast cells play a role in increased collagen synthesis in this disease.

Summary Four cases of solitary glomus tumour are reported, three of the angiomatous type, and one of the epitheliomatous type. In all cases, mucinous degeneration was seen, the extent of which correlated with the number of glomus cells.

Summary Secondary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma may present with various types of skin lesions, hut rarely produces ulceration in contrast to primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. We report a case of malignant lymphoma of the tonsil that recurred as a giant cutaneous ulcer on the back of a 45-year-old man, Biopsy of the ulcer revealed a malignant lymphoma of diffuse, mixed-cell type. Surface marker analysis of the tumour cells showed suppressor/cytotoxic T-cell characteristics. The skin lesions were treated by electron beam therapy.

Summary Articular tissue was obtained at surgery for a femoral neck fracture in a patient with psoriasis without arthritis. The proteoglycan of the cartilage of the sample was analysed biochemically. Normal cartilage is known to produce two types of proteoglycan monomers (fast- and slow-sedimenting groups), which are distinguishable by density-gradient ultracentrifugation. In the psoriatic cartilage analysed in the present study, it was shown that the former group was absent and only the latter group remained.

Summary A case of a solitary pigmented neurofibrosarcoma involving the lateral side of the face in a 19-year-old female is described. Clinically it resembled a haemangioma, and angiography showed hypervascularity of the tumour. Light-microscopic study revealed that the major cellular element of the tumour was composed of bizarre neoplastic cells with large pleomorphic, hyperchromatic nuclei, conspicuous nucleoli and moderate to abundant amounts of conspicuous cytoplasm. Mitotic figures and multi-nucleate cells were present in most fields. Neurofibrosarcoma is one of the most highly malignant tumours; however, in the present case, there was no evidence of recurrence during a follow-up period of 5 years.

Summary Herpes simplex viral DNA was detected in biopsy specimens obtained from four patients with Kaposi's varicelliform eruption using an in situ hybridization technique with btotinylated complementary DNA probes. Herpes simplex viral DNA was consistently found almost exclusively in the nuclei of giant cells and balloon cells in vesicles during day 2, 5 and 7 of the disease. In the nuclei, the viral DNA staining pattern was granular or agglomerate. No positive staining was observed in the cytoplasm.

A case of generalized granuloma annulare associated with temporal arteritis is described. The patient, a 79-year-old man, noticed numerous asymptomatic lesions on his trunk and extremities for 3 months. Four months later, he suffered from headache and loss of vision. Both were successfully treated by oral administration of prednisolone.

Acanthosis nigricans (AN) is generally classified into the malignant, benign and pseudo-types. The malignant type is the most frequently reported and 65% of the benign type are associated with diabetes mellitus (218 of 337 reports, 1969-1995, our investigation). Moreover, familial reports are not frequent, and previous reports have suggested that AN is endocrinological or hereditary in origin, but the cause remains unclear. Familial polyposis coli (FPC), on the other hand, is a rare autosomal dominant intestinal disease that progresses to cancer in many cases. Both AN and FPC are autosomal dominant, but no common human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing between these diseases has been reported previously.

Summary The effects of topically applied 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) ointment on hairy and hairless mice have been studied. Five per cent 5-FU ointment was applied once daily to the dorsal surface of the mice, totalling one, two or seven applications. No changes have occurred in all the hairy mice, while remarkable changes such as erosion or ulcer, followed by skin hypertrophy and pigmentation have occurred after the applications of the drug to hairless mice. In the altered hairless mice, acanthosis, the appearance of active (DOPA positive) melanocytes in the epidermis and dermal cyst wall, and moderate increase in the dermal melanocytes were seen in the marked pigmentation area. Pseudocarcinomatous hyperplasia and a high increase in the dermal melanocytes were seen in the hypertrophic skin. It is suggested that different from the hairy mice skin the hairless mice skin shows abnormal reaction to 5-FU (erosion or ulcer), resulting in epidermal hyperplasia and pigmentation.