Reactive Granulomatous Dermatitis: A Descriptive Study of 10 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Reactive granulomatous dermatitis (RGD) is a rare and misunderstood skin disorder. It includes interstitial granulomatous dermatitis and palisaded neutrophilic and granulomatous dermatitis: 2 entities of the same spectrum. Multiple associations are described with RGD in the literature, including autoimmune diseases, malignancy, and drugs. OBJECTIVE: To report and describe the suspected associations with RGD at the time of diagnosis and in the following year. METHODS: We retrieved and described cases of RGD confirmed by skin biopsy and clinicopathologic correlation. All patients were evaluated in the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec-Université Laval between January 2000 and December 2020. Collected data include the systemic diseases (autoimmune disease, malignancy) and suspected drugs, in addition to the clinical presentation and prescribed treatments. RESULTS: Out of the 10 patients with RGD, 7 patients were known to have an autoimmune disease at the time of diagnosis. They either had inflammatory arthritis (3/10) or inflammatory bowel disease (4/10). There was a clinical suspicion of a possible association with a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor in 2 of these 7 patients. Among the 3 patients with idiopathic RGD at the time of diagnosis, 1 patient developed a high-grade B-cell lymphoma 6 months later. There was no new association identified in the following year for patients with a known autoimmune condition. CONCLUSION: This descriptive study supports RGD and its previously described systemic associations, particularly autoimmune diseases, malignancy, and certain drugs (specifically TNF inhibitors). The majority of patients already had one of these associations identified at the time of histopathological diagnosis.

Effect of Nicotinamide in Skin Cancer and Actinic Keratoses Chemoprophylaxis, and Adverse Effects Related to Nicotinamide: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Oral nicotinamide is recommended in individuals with a field of cancerization or with ≥1 previous cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of nicotinamide in prevention of skin cancers. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of nicotinamide. We used Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and Web of Science databases from their inception to October 2020 to search the following concepts: "nicotinamide"; "randomized controlled trial" (validated filters). Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts for intervention and study design before searching full texts for eligibility criteria. To be eligible, ≥1 outcome had to be covered. We used a standardized collection grid to complete data extraction in duplicate. The primary outcome was skin cancers (all types). Secondary outcomes were basal cell carcinomas (BCCs); cSCCs; actinic keratoses; melanomas; digestive, cutaneous, and biochemical adverse effects (AEs). Subgroup analyses were planned a priori. RESULTS: We screened 4730 citations and found 29 trials (3039 patients) meeting inclusion criteria. Nicotinamide was associated with a significant reduction in skin cancers compared to control (rate ratio 0.50 (95% CI, 0.29-0.85; I 2 = 64%; 552 patients; 5 trials); moderate strength of the evidence). Heterogeneity was explained by risk of bias. Nicotinamide was associated with a significant reduction in BCCs and cSCCs, and increased risk of digestive AEs. CONCLUSION: Oral nicotinamide should be considered in healthy patients or organ transplant recipients with history of skin cancer (GRADE: weak recommendation; moderate-quality evidence), in particular of BCC and cSCC.

Acellular Gelatinous Material of Human Umbilical Cord Enhances Wound Healing: A Candidate Remedy for Deficient Wound Healing.

Impaired wound healing is a severe clinical challenge and research into finding effective wound healing strategies is underway as there is no ideal treatment. Gelatinous material from the umbilical cord called Wharton's jelly is a valuable source of mesenchymal stem cells which have been shown to aid wound healing. While the cellular component of Wharton's jelly has been the subject of extensive research during the last few years, little is known about the de-cellularized jelly material of the umbilical cord. This is important as they are native niche of stem cells. We have isolated Wharton's jelly from umbilical cords and then fractionated acellular gelatinous Wharton's jelly (AGWJ). Here, we show for the first time that AGWJ enhances wound healing in vitro as well as in vivo for wounds in a murine model. In vivo staining of the wounds revealed a smaller wound length in the AGWJ treated wounds in comparison to control treatment by enhancing cell migration and differentiation. AGWJ significantly enhanced fibroblast cell migration in vitro. Aside from cell migration, AGWJ changed the cell morphology of fibroblasts to a more elongated phenotype, characteristic of myofibroblasts, confirmed by upregulation of alpha smooth muscle actin using immunoblotting. AGWJ treatment of wounds led to accelerated differentiation of cells into myofibroblasts, shortening the proliferation phase of wound healing. This data provides support for a novel wound healing remedy using AGWJ. AGWJ being native biological, cost effective and abundantly available globally, makes it a highly promising treatment option for wound dressing and skin regeneration.