Category: News & Media

One of many topics which will discussed during the 12th International Conference on Skin Ageing and Challenges 2021 is Updated Treatment for Acne: Targeted Therapy Based on Pathogenesis.

Recent advances have further elucidated the pathogenesis of acne: it is now clear that immunological factors play an important role. To date, acne pathogenesis has implicated four major factors: androgen-dependent sebogenesis, hyperkeratinization of the infundibulum, Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) colonization, and inflammation. Successful targeted therapy for acne currently includes topical retinoids that normalize abnormal hyperkeratinization in the infundibulum and novel topical retinoids with anti-inflammatory properties. Topical and oral antimicrobials inhibit bacterial proliferation and reduce inflammation related to cytokines and extracellular enzymes. Topical benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is highly effective in reducing both sensitive and resistant strains of C. acnes and has some impact on hyperkeratinization in the infundibulum. Anti-androgens can regulate androgen metabolism, resulting in suppression of sebum excretion. Orally administered isotretinoin is currently the only agent that can affect all four main factors implicated in acne.

In this review, they summarize updated treatments facilitating potential novel approaches in acne treatment including immunology and wound healing. In particular, biological treatments targeting IL-1β, IL-17, IL-23, and TNFα could provide novel approaches for treating severe acne and related disorders. In addition, biological antibodies targeting TGFβ, IL-6, MMP, IGF-1, and B cells may be a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of this type of scar in the future. Future treatment for acne should embrace approaches that target the main etiological factors of acne.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-021-00552-6

One of the great topics that will be discussed during the 12th International Conference on Skin Ageing and Challenges 2021 is The Pathobiology of Skin Aging: New Insights into an Old Dilemma by Georges Murphy.

 

Long considered both physiologic and inevitable, skin aging is a degenerative phenomenon whereby both intrinsic and environmental factors conspire to produce an authentic disease. The consequences of this disorder are many and varied, ranging from atrophy and fragility to defective repair to deficient immunity and vulnerability to certain infections. The pathobiological basis for skin aging remains poorly understood. At a cellular level, stem cell dysfunction and attrition appear to be key events, and both genetic and epigenetic factors are involved in a complex interplay that over time results in deterioration of our main protective interface with the external environment. Past and current understanding of the cellular and molecular intricacies of skin aging provide a foundation for future approaches designed to thwart the aging phenotype.

This review has provided only a glimpse into the complex events that account for the disease of skin aging. Beyond UV light and infectious agents, there are numerous other factors that are likely to contribute to the aging skin phenotype. Krutmann and coworkers have recently emphasized the term skin exposome to describe the totality of potentially deleterious, age-inducing external factors to which skin is exposed during a lifetime. These factors include, in addition to UV radiation, environmental pollutants, stress, nutritional factors, tobacco, temperature-related factors, and even lack of sleep. Such factors, singly or in combination, may have the potential to conspire in a manner that affects the epigenome governing the transcriptional integrity of skin cell DNA, thus pathologically modifying cells, including physiologic stem cells, from the more pristine states that typified their youth. In this respect, it is important to remember that epigenomic alterations that reorganize chromatin and alter gene expression are known to contribute to cellular aging in organisms as basic as budding yeast.

Full article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.03.007 

A team of University of California, Irvine researchers have published the first comprehensive overview of the major changes that occur in mammalian skin cells as they prepare to heal wounds. Results from the study provide a blueprint for future investigation into pathological conditions associated with poor wound healing, such as in diabetic patients.

“This study is the first comprehensive dissection of the major changes in cellular heterogeneity from a normal state to wound healing in skin,” said Xing Dai, Ph.D., a professor of biological chemistry and dermatology in the UCI School of Medicine, and senior author. “This work also showcases the collaborative efforts between biologists, mathematician and physicists at UCI, with support from the National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases-funded UCI Skin Biology Resource-based Center and the NSF-Simons Center for Multiscale Cell Fate Research.

The study, titled, “Defining epidermal basal cell states during skin homeostasis and wound healing using single-cell transcriptomics,” was published this week in Cell Reports.

“Our research uncovered at least four distinct transcriptional states in the epidermal basal layer as part of a ‘hierarchical-lineage’ model of the epidermal homeostasis, or stable state of the skin, clarifying a long-term debate in the skin stem cell field,” said Dai.

Using single-cell RNA sequencing coupled with RNAScope and fluorescence lifetime imaging, the team identified three non-proliferative and one proliferative basal cell state in homeostatic skin that differ in metabolic preference and become spatially partitioned during wound re-epithelialization, which is the process by which the skin and mucous membranes replace superficial epithelial cells damaged or lost in a wound.

Epithelial tissue maintenance is driven by resident stem cells, the proliferation and differentiation dynamics of which need to be tailored to the tissue’s homeostatic and regenerative needs. However, our understanding of tissue-specific cellular dynamics in vivo at single-cell and tissue scales is often very limited.

“Our study lays a foundation for future investigation into the adult epidermis, specifically how the skin is maintained and how it can robustly regenerate itself upon injury,” said Dai.

News Source: www.medicalxpress.com

More information: Daniel Haensel et al, Defining Epidermal Basal Cell States during Skin Homeostasis and Wound Healing Using Single-Cell Transcriptomics, Cell Reports (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.02.091

A hive-type rash, or urticaria, is among the three skin conditions that can be the only symptom of COVID-19.
Credit Pic: James Heilman

Three skin conditions are each identified by researchers as potentially the sole indicator of the illness.

A skin rash can sometimes be the only symptom of people infected with COVID-19, a study has concluded.

Three types of rashes are identified in the research by King’s College London, leading those behind the study to call for skin rashes to be included as a fourth key symptom of COVID-19.

The three established symptoms of COVID-19, as recognised by the NHS, are a high temperature, a new and continuous cough, and a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.

The study – which has been published online but has not yet been peer-reviewed – drew upon data from the 336,000 regular UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app.

With that data, researchers found 8.8% of people who tested positive for the virus suffered a skin rash among their symptoms, compared with 5.4% of those who tested negative.

Similar results were seen in a further 8.2% of users with a rash who did not have a coronavirus test, but still reported the three established COVID-19 symptoms: a cough, fever or loss of smell.

The study said rashes associated with COVID-19 fell into three categories:

Hive-type rash (urticaria):

• The sudden appearance of raised bumps on the skin, which come and go quite quickly over hours, and are usually very itchy.
• It can involve any part of the body, and often starts with intense itching of the palms or soles, and can cause swelling of the lips and eyelids.
• These rashes can present quite early on in the infection, but can also last a long time afterwards.

‘Prickly heat’ or chickenpox-type rash:

• Areas of small, itchy red bumps that can occur anywhere on the body, but particularly the elbows and knees as well as the back of the hands and feet.
• The rash can persist for days or weeks.

COVID fingers and toes (chilblains):

• Reddish and purplish bumps on the fingers or toes, which may be sore but not usually itchy.

This type of rash is most specific to COVID-19, is more common in younger people with the disease, and tends to present later on.

Lead author Dr Veronique Bataille, consultant dermatologist at St Thomas’ Hospital and King’s College London, said: “Many viral infections can affect the skin, so it’s not surprising that we are seeing these rashes in COVID-19.

“However, it’s important that people know that in some cases, a rash may be the first or only symptom of the disease.

“So if you notice a new rash, you should take it seriously by self-isolating and getting tested as soon as possible.”

Although COVID-19 is often thought of as a virus that affects the respiratory system, rashes had been reported in a number of cases among people in China and elsewhere in Europe who had needed hospital treatment for severe symptoms of the disease.

However, this is the first and largest study to systematically gather data about skin rashes in milder cases across the wider population.

Consultant dermatologist Dr Justine Kluk said: “These findings highlight the importance of keeping an eye on any new changes in your skin, such as lumps, bumps or rashes.

“Early reporting of COVID-associated rashes by members of the public and recognition of their significance by frontline healthcare practitioners – such as GPs, NHS 111 and hospital staff – may increase the detection of coronavirus infections and help to stop the spread.”

News source : news.sky.com

Authors : Veronique Bataille, Alessia Visconti, Niccolo’ Rossi, Benjamin Murray, Abigail Bournot, Wolf, Sebastien Ourselin, Claire Steves, Timothy Spector, Mario Falchi
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.10.20150656