Effectiveness of Exosome Treatment in Androgenetic Alopecia: Outcomes of a Prospective Study.

OBJECTIVE: Harnessing the regenerative capabilities of stem cell-derived exosomes holds great promise for developing novel hair growth therapies, offering hope for individuals experiencing hair loss or alopecia. This aimed to elucidate the effect of "foreskin-derived mesenchymal stromal cells derived exosome" injection into the scalp on hair density in patients with androgenetic alopecia and the contribution of this treatment on patient satisfaction. METHOD: This prospective study included 30 male patients, aged between 22 and 65, with hair type III-VI according to the Norwood-Hamilton scale. Characterization of the stem cell exosomes was performed with the nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), hair densities were calculated via digital imaging analysis, and patient satisfaction was questioned with a modified survey. RESULTS: NTA results showed a characteristic distribution of peaks for exosomes 139.7 ± 2.3 nm in diameter. A statistically significant increase in hair density was observed in the 4th and 12th weeks after treatment (p < 0.05). Patient-reported satisfaction revealed a statistically significant difference in the answers given in the 12th week compared to the 4th week (p < 0.05). No side effects or complications were observed after exosome injection. CONCLUSION: Foreskin-derived mesenchymal stromal cells derived exosome injection increased hair density, with sustained patient satisfaction throughout the study. The exosome application resulted in no side effects. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Investigation of coping behaviors and premenstrual syndrome among university students.

This study aims to examine premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in university students and their coping behaviors. 452 female students were included in this descriptive and correlational study. The data were collected using a descriptive information form, the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS), and the Premenstrual Change Coping Inventory (PMS-Cope). PMS symptoms were found in 80.5% of students. Seeking positive affect-inducing activities to cope with PMS was found to be a significant predictor of reducing the severity of PMS (ß =-0.265, p < .001). In coping with PMS, it is necessary to consider the perceptions of taking medication, seeking social support, or seeking positive affect-inducing activities as a coping method to determine the social and cultural beliefs of university students and control PMS. PMS is a significant health problem and raising awareness of the issue alone may not be enough. It should also be noted that the severity of PMS can vary markedly between ethnic groups, and women's strategies for coping with symptoms and their effectiveness may differ between cultures. It is pivotal to develop strategies for university students to cope with PMS and provide personalized care.

Sacroiliitis during isotretinoin treatment: Causal association or coincidence?

Isotretinoin, a retinoid derivate used in acne treatment, has a variety of side effects involving the musculoskeletal system; however, sacroiliitis is rarely observed. Our aim was to present nine cases of sacroiliitis in patients being treated with isotretinoin. Sacroiliitis was identified and monitored using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Clinical symptoms were resolved with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy after isotretinoin treatment was ceased. Different from the other cases, follow-up MRI was done. Follow-up MRI revealed improvement in some patients. Although the association between isotretinoin therapy and sacroiliitis has been covered in literature, this association is not yet completely understood. We aimed to discuss the relationship between two.

Psychiatric comorbidities and alexithymia in patients with seborrheic dermatitis: a questionnaire study in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the levels of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with seborrheic dermatitis (SD) compared with healthy subjects. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the presence of alexithymia among patients and its association with these psychiatric comorbidities. METHODS: A total of 117 consecutive adult patients (66 male, 51 female) with SD and 95 age- and gender-matched healthy controls selected from the community (46 male, 49 female) were enrolled in the study. The demographic characteristics of the patients were recorded. The clinical severity of the disease was assessed according to the Seborrheic Dermatitis Area and Severity Index (SDASI) scoring system. Both patients and controls were evaluated by the validated Turkish versions of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the patient and control groups regarding the mean scores of depressive or obsessive-compulsive symptoms or alexithymia (all p > 0.05). However, anxiety scores in patients with SD were higher than in controls (p = 0.001). No significant relationship was present between anxiety and disease severity nor disease duration (p > 0.05). Thirty-eight patients with high anxiety scores were found to be more alexithymic (p = 0.000). CONCLUSION: SD is one of the inflammatory skin disorders that is known to be triggered or aggravated by stress. However, little scientific evidence exists to confirm this view. In addition, very limited data are available about the presence of the personality profiles leading to emotional dysregulation such as alexithymia and concurrent psychiatric disorders in patients with SD. Our study showed that anxiety levels were significantly higher in patients with SD compared with healthy controls but there was no significant association with alexithymia, depression, or obsessive-compulsive symptom levels. Dermatologists should be particularly vigilant to the possibility of concurrent psychiatric morbidity in patients with SD in order to improve patients' well-being.

Cutaneous drug eruptions by current antiepileptics: case reports and alternative treatment options.

Serious cutaneous drug eruptions due to antiepileptics have been defined for many drugs like carbamazepine, diphenylhydantoin, phenytoin and valproate. In recent years, adverse cutaneous reactions due to the current antiepileptic drugs have also been reported. In this paper, two cases are presented: a 48-year-old female receiving gabapentin for postherpetic neuralgia who developed leukocytoclastic vasculitis after 8 weeks and a 23-year-old male receiving lamotrigine for epileptic seizures who developed toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) in 15 days. Alternative therapy approaches with practical suggestions are also discussed.

Generalized pruritus treated with narrowband UVB.

BACKGROUND: Narrowband UVB phototherapy has been increasingly used in a variety of dermatological diseases. We planned to evaluate its efficacy in generalized pruritus in this prospective study. METHODS: Forty-six patients were included and then divided into two groups: group 1 and group 2 consisted of patients with uremic pruritus and "idiopathic pruritus", respectively. Phototherapy was given three times a week. Efficacy assessments were made by means of visual analog scale (VAS) and pruritus grading score. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients completed the treatment. Mean VAS decreased from 8.2 +/- 1.5 to 3.6 +/- 3 in group 1 and from 7.1 +/- 2.3 to 2.3 +/- 2.8 in group 2 (P < 0.0001). Mean percentage of change in VAS was 54.2% (95% CI 32.6-75.9) and 67.9% (95% CI 53.8-81.9) in group 1 and group 2, respectively. Mean number of treatments was 22 in both groups. Mean cumulative UVB dose was 24,540 mJ/cm(2) and 20,801 mJ/cm(2) in group 1 and group 2, respectively. CONCLUSION: Narrowband UVB is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for patients with generalized pruritus.

Peer education project on breast self-examination in Izmir, Turkey.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to assess undergraduate female student knowledge related to the Peer Education Method and Breast Self-Examination (BSE), to encourage them to refer for screening with certain intervals and to teach them the means of utilizing the health services. DESIGN: The subjects comprised 160 undergraduate female students who were selected by simple random sampling and who accepted to participate. METHODS: A survey form, which was prepared under the direction of relative literature by the researcher four 3rd graders of Ege University School of Nursing, was applied to female students. The data collected were assessed after being coded. FINDINGS: The numbers of undergraduate female students performing BSE regularly and their information levels related to the symptoms of breast cancer were found to be very low, but their mean scores for performing BSE after training given by peer guides were increased and the peer group training was found to be effective. CONCLUSIONS: From the results we conclude that the training guide was appropriate for transmitting information to university students for peer group education purposes.