[Signaling Pathways in the Pathogenesis of Acne Vulgaris].

Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disease of hair follicle sebaceous gland units,with an incidence of up to 85% in adolescents.The pathogenesis is closely related to androgen,sebum secretion,lipophilic microbial infection,and immune-inflammatory reaction.This article reviews the signaling pathways related to acne from the aspects of inflammatory signaling pathways and sebum secretion pathways.

[Insulin-like Growth Factors and Dermatosis].

Insulin-like growth factors(IGFs)are polypeptides structurally homologous to insulin.By binding to membrane tyrosine receptors,they regulate the proliferation,differentiation,apoptosis,growth,and development of body cells and are involved in the pathogenesis of tumors and other diseases.In recent years,more research on IGFs of dermatosis increased.This article reviews recent research advances in IGFs and its relationship with dermatosis.

Short-term clinical effects of photodynamic therapy with topical 5-aminolevulinic acid for facial acne conglobata: an open, prospective, parallel-arm trial.

BACKGROUND: Acne conglobata is hardly curable and easily leads to scar formation after treatment using traditional methods. AIM: To develop a novel way to treat acne conglobata. METHODS: Seventy-five patients with facial acne conglobata were included in this clinical study and divided into either a treatment group (n = 35) to receive photodynamic therapy (PDT) with topical 5% 5-aminolevulinic acid and red light once every 10 days for a month or a control group (n = 40) to receive a Chinese herbal medicine mask plus red light once per week for the same duration. Patients in both groups were given oral viaminate capsules, doxycycline, zinc gluconate, and topical metronidazole. Efficacy was evaluated with respect to symptom score, cure rate, and response rate up to 2 weeks following the final treatment, and time points for assessment included baseline (D0 ), the visit before each treatment (D10 and D20 for the treatment group, and D7 , D14 , and D21 for the control group), and 2 weeks after treatment (D34 for the treatment group and D35 for the control group). Safety was assessed by recording adverse effects. RESULTS: Treatment with PDT significantly improved acne lesions and reduced scar formation. The treatment group had a significantly lower symptom score, a higher cure rate, and response rate than the control group. No systemic side effects occurred. CONCLUSION: The treatment of acne conglobata with PDT is associated with a high cure rate, short treatment period, few side effects, and reduced scar formation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the treatment of acne conglobata with PDT.

[The expression of thrombospondin-1 in serum and pulmonary arterioles of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) in serum and pulmonary arterioles of rats with hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. METHODS: Twenty male Wistar rats were divided into two groups and exposed to air and isobaric hypoxia for 3 weeks respectively. The mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) was measured by right cardiac catheterization. The rates of wall thickness/external diameter (WT%) and wall area/total vascular area (WA%) were calculated. The TSP-1 level in serum was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. TSP-1 mRNA expression in lung tissue was evaluated by quantitative PCR. RESULTS: The pulmonary artery pressure increased in the hypoxia exposed rats. The chronic hypoxia also elicited the thicking of the wall and the narrowing of the lumen of pulmonary arterioles. It led to the increases of pulmonary artery pressure, the index of right ventricular hypertrophy [RV/(LV+S)], WA% and WT% compared to the controls [mPAP:(2.86 +/- 0.39) kPa vs. (1.35 +/- 40.28) kPa; RV/(LV+ S): (43.53 +/- 3.38)% vs. (23.68 +/- 3.48)%; WT%: (35.24 +/- 11.20)% vs. (23.63 +/- 9.74)%; WA%: (55.09 +/- 12.38)% vs. (41.62 +/- 12.83)% respectively, P<0.05]. In hypoxic group, the expression of TSP-1 mRNA in the lung was significantly up-regulated, the expression level of TSP-1 in serum was higher than that in control group (P<0.01). Linear correlation analysis showed that TSP-1 mRNA was positively associated with WT%, WA% and mPAP (r= 0.748, 0.686, 0.942 respectively, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The TSP-1 may play an important role in the pathogenesis process of hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling and pulmonary hypertension.

[Expression of thrombospondin-1 in the lung of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of thrombospondin-1(TSP-1) in the lung of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension rats. METHODS: Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into two groups, pulmonary hypertension group and control group. The mice in experimental group were exposed to isobaric hypoxia for 3 weeks, and those in control group were exposed to air. The pulmonary artery pressure was measured by right cardiac catheterization. The expression of TSP-1 and TGF-beta1 in the lungs of rats were measured by immunohistochemical staining. The histological sections of the lungs were examined using a computerized image analyzer. RESULTS: After the induction of hypoxia for 3 weeks, the rats had pulmonary artery pressure increased with the thickening of the wall and the narrowing of the lumen of pulmonary arterioles. In the experimental group, the mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) was (2.86 +/- 0.39) kPa, the index of right ventricular hypertrophy RV/(LV+S) was (43.53 +/- 3.38)%, the ratio of vascular wall thickness/vascular external diameter (WA%) was (55.09 +/- 12.38)%, and the ratio of vascular wall area/total vascular area (WT%) was (35.24 +/- 11.2)%, which all were significantly increased in comparison with those of control group [mPAP (1.35 +/- 0.28) kPa, RV/(LV+S) (23.68 +/- 3.48)%, WT% (23.63 +/- 9.74)%, WA% (41.62 +/- 12.83)%, respectively. P < 0.05). The positive staining of TSP-1 (1.32 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.96 +/- 0.03) and TGF-beta1 (1.38 +/- 0.05 vs. 1.04 +/- 0.04) in the wall of pulmonary arteriole of the rats exposed to hypoxia were significantly stronger than those of control rats (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The expression of TSP-1 appears to be increased in hypoxic pulmonary hypertension rats, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypoxic pulmonary vascular remodeling.

Syringotropic mycosis fungoides responding well to VELP chemotherapy: A case report.

Mycosis fungoides (MF), a low-malignant lymphoproliferative disorder, is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The current study reported a case of syringotropic MF, a rare variant of MF, which presented with reactive B cell proliferation, lymphoid follicle formation, hair loss and lymphadenopathy. The clinical manifestations of the patient were MF-like lumps. Immunohistochemical staining of AE1/AE3 showed that there were abundant infiltrated lymphocytes surrounding the syringocystadenoma. In addition, the direction of the lymphocyte arrangement was consistent with the meandering direction of syringocystadenoma. The patient did not respond to 1-month narrowband (311-nm) ultraviolet therapy; however, a good response was obtained subsequent to one cycle of chemotherapy with vincristine sulfate, etoposide, L-asparaginase and prednisone acetate (know as the VELP regimen). After 7 days of VELP chemotherapy, the skin lesions were ameliorated, hair loss was improved and lymphadenopathy disappeared. No lymphadenopathy or new skin lesions were observed during 6 months of follow-up.