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This article discusses a case of multidrug-resistant Trichophyton rubrum, a fungus that commonly causes skin infections. The patient, a 67-year-old woman, had large-scale plaques on her abdomen, groins, legs, and gluteal area that had not responded to various topical and systemic antifungal treatments. Resistance testing revealed that the fungus was resistant to terbinafine and itraconazole, and had a high minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for fluconazole. The patient was eventually treated with voriconazole, which led to complete remission. The article emphasizes the importance of resistance testing in cases of treatment failure or relapse to choose effective treatment and prevent the spread of resistance. [Extracted from the article]

Rationale, aims and objectives: In clinical practise and in clinical studies on depression it is important to estimate whether changes in symptomatology measured by self‐rating instruments are, in fact, clinically relevant. Therefore, the aim of the study was to estimate the clinical relevance of changes on the 15‐item version of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D‐15) based on the concept of the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). Methods: Data was acquired from 4781 patients with depression symptoms from a German psychosomatic hospital who have been assessed using the CES‐D‐15 before and after treatment. Threshold values representing the MCID were estimated on the basis of mean change scores and sensitivity/specificity analyses. Patients' global impression of change, clinical (therapists') global impression of change and change in impairment severity were used as external anchor criteria. Results: On average, the MCID was represented by a reduction of approximately 11 points in the CES‐D‐15, irrespective of age, gender, type of treatment and first or secondary diagnosis. However, higher baseline scores in the CES‐D‐15 required larger changes of raw values to represent a clinically important difference. Conclusions: Anchor‐based values are suggested here as an estimation of the clinical relevance of changes in the CES‐D‐15. Thus, instead of relying solely on effect sizes, the evaluation of treatment outcomes should be supplemented by reporting the percentage of patients who have reached the MCID. Further examinations to verify our results in other patient populations and with other types of anchor criteria will be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CD18 hypomorphic (CD1[8.sup.hypo]) PL/J mouse model clinically resembling human psoriasis is characterized by reduced expression of the common chain of [[beta].sub.2] integrins (CD11/CD18) to only 2-16% of WT levels. [...]

Psoriasis is a common skin disease, the pathogenesis of which has not yet been resolved. In mice, epidermis-specific deletion of inhibitor of NF-[kappa]B (I[kappa]B) kinase 2 (IKK2) results in a [...]

Author(s): Manolis Pasparakis (corresponding author) [1, 2]; Gilles Courtois [3]; Martin Hafner [4, 5]; Marc Schmidt-Supprian [1, 5]; Arianna Nenci [2]; Atiye Toksoy [6]; Monika Krampert [7]; Matthias Goebeler [6]; [...]

Human epidermal stem cells express higher levels of [Beta]1 integrins and are more adhesive than keratinocytes that are destined to differentiate. To investigate whether high [Beta]1 integrin expression and adhesiveness are essential for maintaining keratinocytes in the stem cell compartment, we introduced a dominant-negative [Beta]1 integrin mutant, CD8[Beta]1, into cultured human keratinocytes, thereby interfering with [Beta]1 integrin function. Surface [Beta]1 integrin levels, adhesiveness, and mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase activation on fibronectin were reduced, and exit from the stem cell compartment was stimulated. Adhesiveness and proliferative potential were restored by overexpressing wild-type [Beta]1 integrin or by constitutive MAP kinase activation. Conversely, a dominant-negative MAP kinase kinase 1 mutant decreased adhesiveness and stem cell number in the absence of CD8[Beta]1. MAP kinase activation by [Alpha]6[Beta]4-mediated adhesion and mitogens was normal in CD8[Beta]1 cells, and constitutive MAP kinase activation did not affect adhesion and proliferation of control keratinocytes. We conclude that [Beta]1 integrins and MAP kinase cooperate to maintain the epidermal stem cell compartment in vitro.