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Chemical Analysis of Scales as a Diagnostic Test

PETER FLESCH, M.D.; ELIZABETH C. JACKSON ESODA, M.D.

AMA Arch Derm. 1957;76(4):393-401.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

The etiology, pathogenesis, and biochemical nature of psoriasis are among the greatest unsolved problems in dermatology. In their recent textbook, Pillsbury et al. state: "It is surprising that such a common and chronic disease has not been subjected to more fundamental study."¹ Actually there are quite a few basic investigations available. However, the findings, such as abnormalities in the metabolism of choline^2,3 and possibly of cholesterol,⁴ appear to be secondary manifestations of a more basic biochemical disturbance. The roles of these substances in the differentiation of the horny layer are unknown, and therefore anomalies in their behavior do not help to bridge the gap between an obviously faulty epidermal metabolism and the resulting scaly lesions.

The most conspicuous feature of the disease is the formation of large coherent scales. In normal shedding the surface flakes in dry invisible particles.⁵ . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Philadelphia

From the Department of Dermatology (Donald M. Pillsbury, M.D., Director), University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Footnotes
Received for publication June 19, 1957.

Read before the 77th Annual Meeting of the American Dermatological Association, Inc., Belleair, Fla., April 12, 1957.

This study has been awarded first prize in the 1956 Annual Essay Contest of the American Dermatological Association.

This study was supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, P. H. S. RG-4718, and by a grant from the Squibb Institute for Medical Research.

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