Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042109 (urticaria)
 6,569 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

39 patients were treated with carotinoids (beta-carotene alone or combined with canthaxanthine) with an oral dose of 50-150 mg/d, some of them for a period of several years. 23 of these were patients with porphyria (erythropoietic protoporphyria [EPP] 20, congenital erythropoietic porphyria 2, erythropoietic coproporphyria 1); 16 patients were suffering from various photodermatoses (solar urticaria 6, actinic reticuloid 5, UV-A intolerance 1, unclassified photodermatoses 4). Tolerance of the carotinoids was very good; no side effects were seen except for a yellow discoloration of the skin. In 19 of 20 EPP patients the result of the treatment was good, whereas no improvement was seen in the other kinds of porphyria. Of the 16 cases of photodermatoses not caused by porphyrinopathy, 6 responded to the therapy (solar urticaria 2, actinic reticuloid 2, UV-A intolerance 1, unclassified photodermatosis 1). Some cases showed great improvement as a result of the treatment.
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PMID:[Treatment of photodermatoses with carotinoids (author's transl)]. 89 78

The porphyrias can be grouped conveniently by their presenting symptoms. Acute intermittent neurological symptoms of neuritis, abdominal pain and psychoses may occur in acute intermittent porphyria, hereditary coproporphyria and variegata porphyria. Increase of the porphyrin precursors delta-aminolaevulinic acid and porphobilinogen may be observed in the urine during attacks (Watson-Schwartz test). Patients with acute symptoms of photosensitivity with burning pain and oedema within short exposure periods may have erythropoietic protoporphyria, with high erythrocyte and stool protoporphyrins, erythropoietic coproporphyria, and in the last few years of life the more recently described hepatoerythropoietic porphyria. Symptoms of chronic photosensitivity include; hyperpigmentation, hypertrichosis, easy fragility of the skin with bullae and subsequent scarring in porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), with increased uroporphyrin in the urine and stool; variegate porphyria with increased protoporphyrin and coproporphyrin in the stool; congenital erythropoietic porphyria with an increased copro- and uroporphyrin (isomer I) in the erythrocytes, urine and stool; and hepatoerythropoietic porphyria in later life, in which the chronic features are similar to PCT. In 1913 Meyer-Betz injected himself with 200 mg haematoporphyrin. Initially, at the higher levels, the symptoms were those of solar urticaria as observed in erythropoietic porphyria, but after several months became identical to PCT. A comparison of quantitative porphyrin analysis (performed on 323 patients with porphyria) and chromatography provides additional confirmation for the diagnosis.
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PMID:Porphyria: genetic and acquired. 329 37

Dysfunction of the NF1 gene coding a RAS GAP is the major cause of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), whereas neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is caused primarily by dysfunction of the NF2 gene product called merlin that inhibits directly PAK1, an oncogenic Rac/CDC42-dependent Ser/Thr kinase. It was demonstrated previously that PAK1 is essential for the growth of both NF1 and NF2 tumors. Thus, several anti-PAK1 drugs, including FK228 and CEP-1347, are being developed for the treatment of NF tumors. However, so far no effective NF therapeutic is available on the market. Since propolis, a very safe healthcare product from bee hives, contains anticancer ingredients called CAPE (caffeic acid phenethyl ester) or ARC (artepillin C), depending on the source, both of which block the oncogenic PAK1 signaling pathways, its potential therapeutic effect on NF tumors was explored in vivo. Here it is demonstrated that Bio 30, a CAPE-rich water-miscible extract of New Zealand (NZ) propolis suppressed completely the growth of a human NF1 cancer called MPNST (malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor) and caused an almost complete regression of human NF2 tumor (Schwannoma), both grafted in nude mice. Although CAPE alone has never been used clinically, due to its poor bioavailability/water-solubility, Bio 30 contains plenty of lipids which solubilize CAPE, and also includes several other anticancer ingredients that seem to act synergistically with CAPE. Thus, it would be worth testing clinically to see if Bio 30 and other CAPE-rich propolis are useful for the treatment of NF patients.
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PMID:CAPE (caffeic acid phenethyl ester)-based propolis extract (Bio 30) suppresses the growth of human neurofibromatosis (NF) tumor xenografts in mice. 1872 24