Investigator-blinded, controlled, and randomized comparative study on 1565 nm non-ablative fractional laser versus 5% minoxidil for treatment of androgenetic alopecia.

BACKGROUND: Characterized by progressive hair loss due to an excessive response to androgens, androgenetic alopecia (AGA) affects up to 50% of males and females. Minoxidil is one of approved medications for AGA but inadequate responses occur in many patients. AIMS: To determine whether 1565 nm non-ablative fractional laser (NAFL) could yield better therapeutic benefits for patients with AGA as compared with 5% minoxidil. METHODS: Thirty patients with AGA were enrolled; they were randomly assigned into the laser or minoxidil treatment groups. For the laser treatment group, patients were treated by 1565 nm NAFL at 10 mJ, 250 spots/cm2 with 2 weeks intervals for 4 sessions in total. For the minoxidil treatment group, 1-milliliter of topical 5% minoxidil solution was applied to hair loss area twice a day. RESULTS: The primary outcomes were the changes in numerous hair growth indexes at the Week 10 as compared with the baselines. Both 1565 nm NAFL and 5% minoxidil led to significantly greater hair densities and diameters in patients at the Week 10 than the baselines (p < 0.01). As compared with 5% minoxidil, 1565 nm NAFL showed significantly greater improvements in total hair number, total hair density (hair/cm2), terminal hair number, terminal hair density (hair/cm2), number of hair follicle units, and average hair number/number of hair follicle units. CONCLUSIONS: Our data demonstrate that 1565 nm NAFL exhibits superior clinical efficacy in some aspects of hair growth to the topical minoxidil. It is a safe and effective modality in treating AGA.

Botulinum toxin type A for the management of hidradenitis suppurativa.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, recurrent, inflammatory skin disease that centers around the hair follicle and occurs as a result of follicular occlusion. HS primarily presents as painful, inflamed lesions that begin during puberty and occur most commonly in areas with numerous apocrine glands. The etiology and pathogenesis of HS involve internal and external factors, including genetic susceptibility, inflammation and immunity, microorganisms, obesity, and smoking. Management of HS is difficult, and the current aim of treatment is to control the frequency and duration of disease flare-ups and improve the quality of life. Medical treatments include antibiotics, retinoids, biologics, immunosuppressive agents, and antiandrogen agents. Adjuvant treatment includes surgery, laser, and light therapy. However, the efficacy of these treatment modalities varies from person to person. In recent years, related reports have shown that injection of botulinum toxin type A has a positive effect in the management of HS. This article reviews the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and traditional treatment methods for the management of HS and investigates the use of botulinum toxin type A as a treatment option for this disease.

A retrospective analysis for facial telangiectasia treatment using pulsed dye laser and intense pulsed light configured with different wavelength bands.

BACKGROUND: Facial telangiectasia is one of the common skin vascular lesions characterized by dilated cutaneous vasculatures. The variety of diameters and difference in depths of lesional blood vessels are the major challenges for effective treatments for Facial telangiectasia. AIMS: To compare the efficacy and safety profiles of pulsed dye laser (PDL, 595 nm) with intense pulsed light (IPL) configured by three different wavelength bands in the treatment for facial telangiectasia in Asian populations. PATIENTS/METHODS: A retrospective analysis of hospital records and review on photographs were performed for those subjects with facial telangiectasia (n = 160) who were treated in our department from January 2017 to January 2019. Patients were received two sessions of one of the four following laser treatments: PDL (595 nm, n = 38), IPL with M22 vascular filter (530-650 nm and 900-1200 nm, n = 39), M22 560 (560-1200 nm, n = 42), and M22 590 (590-1200 nm, n = 41). RESULTS: The patients in all the four groups showed an overall and significant improvement of indexes of lesional severity and subjective discomfort as well as improvement score of facial telangiectasia after treatment as compared to baseline. In addition, PDL (595 nm) and IPL with vascular filter (530-650 nm and 900-1200 nm) treatments showed significantly better indexes of lesional severity, subjective discomfort, and improvement score of facial telangiectasia as compared with other two treatments. CONCLUSION: Light devices with various wavelength ranges showed different efficacies of treatment for facial telangiectasia, among which PDL (595 nm) and IPL with M22 vascular filter (530-650 nm and 900-1200 nm) had similar and the best clinical efficacy as compared to IPL with other wavelength bands.

Structure analysis of a novel heteroxylan from the stem of Dendrobium officinale and anti-angiogenesis activities of its sulfated derivative.

Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo (Tie-Pi-Shi-Hu), a precious folk medicine exhibiting multiple bioactivities, including antitumor, immune-enhancing and so on. Although evidences showed polysaccharide is one of the major bioactive substances from this herb, several of them were homogenous with fine structures elucidated. In this study, we showed a novel homogeneous heteroxylan obtained from alkali-extracted crude polysaccharide. It composed of arabinose, xylose, glucose and 4-O-methylglucuronic acid (4-MGA) as well as trace amount of rhamnose and galactose in a ratio of 8.9:62.7:8.5:12.3:3.9:3.7. We further showed that it contained a backbone of 1,4-linked ß-d-xylan, with branches of 1,4-linked α-d-glucose, 1,3-linked α-l-rhamnose, and terminal-linked α-l-arabinose, ß-d-galactose, 4-MGA, and ß-d-xylose directly or indirectly attached to C-2 position of glycosyl residues on backbone. The sulfated derivative with substitution degree about 0.9 was prepared according to the chlorosulfonic acid (CSA)-pyridine method. Bioactivity tests suggested that the sulfated polysaccharide could significantly disrupt tube formation and inhibit the migration of human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) at a low concentration (0.29µM) in a dose-dependent way without significant cytotoxity.

Antioxidant and antibacterial activity of two compounds (forsythiaside and forsythin) isolated from Forsythia suspensa.

Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl. has been widely used in traditional medicines in Asia to treat gonorrhoea, erysipelas, inflammation, pyrexia, ulcer and other diseases. Recently the investigation has been focused on the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of this plant. However, limited scientifically proven information is available. We isolated two compounds (forsythiaside and forsythin) from this plant. The aims of this investigation, therefore, were to assay antioxidant activity and antibacterial properties of the two main and distinctive compounds isolated and to exploit antioxidants and antibacterial agents from natural compounds. The antioxidant activity was estimated using the 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity method and the in-vitro antimicrobial activity was evaluated by microtitre plate method. Forsythiaside was found to possess strong antioxidant and antibacterial activity but forsythin was much weaker. Owing to these properties, the study can be further extended to exploit the possible application of forsythiaside as an alternative antioxidant and antibacterial agent of natural origin.