Case report: Successful treatment of acute generalized pustular psoriasis with multiple comorbidities with oral tacrolimus.

Acute generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a serious illness. Despite various treatment methods, there is still lack of effective treatment plans for refractory cases with multiple comorbidities. This case report presents a 67-year-old woman with acute GPP, stage 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD), type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, in whom skin symptom disappearance and kidney function improvement were observed after the use of oral tacrolimus as the sole therapy. This is the first report on the application of tacrolimus in the treatment of acute GPP, especially refractory acute GPP. The successful treatment indicates that there are shared immune pathways between acute GPP and CKD, and the pathways can be interdicted by tacrolimus. Further studies are needed to optimize the therapy to maximize efficacy and minimize toxicity.

Trends in photodynamic therapy for dermatology in recent 20 years: A scientometric review based on CiteSpace.

OBJECTIVE: Analyze the research state and development trend of photodynamic therapy for dermatology using visual knowledge graphs derived from the Web of Science Core Collection database. METHODS: The Web of Science Core Collection database was utilized as the search data source for the bibliometric analysis, and the associated articles published between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2022, were obtained using the search terms "photodynamic therapy" and "dermatology". CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and additional tools were utilized for bibliometric analysis, and visual knowledge graphs were created. RESULTS: Eight hundred and thirty two articles were retrieved in total, and 747 were included following de-duplication and transformation. The country with the greatest number of publications is the United States; the primary research institution was University of Copenhagen; and the references with the highest centrality were primarily concerned with the selection of photosensitizers; High frequency keywords primarily comprised 5 aminolevulinic acid and basal cell carcinoma; and the clustering graph revealed that all keywords fell into 11 categories. CONCLUSION: In numerous areas of dermatology, photodynamic treatment is commonly employed. Current research focuses on nonneoplastic skin diseases and the choice of photosensitizers. Nonetheless, its specific mechanism and other applications merit further investigation.

Fire needle combined with photodynamic therapy for cutaneous infectious granulomatosis caused by mycobacterium chelonae: A case report.

Mycobacterium chelonae is a non-tuberculous mycobacteria, which can cause skin infectious granuloma through cosmetic injection. This disease's treatment requires a combination of sensitive antibiotics and a lengthy treatment cycle. Photodynamic therapy is still effective for patients who are unwilling to take antibiotics orally. In this case, we successfully used fire needle combined with photodynamic therapy to treat skin infectious granulomatosis caused by Mycobacterium chelonei, and achieved satisfactory results. We used fire needle to pretreat cysts and nodules, which improved the diffusion and absorption of locally applied photosensitizers and enhanced the efficacy of photodynamic therapy. However, additional clinical research is necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of fire needle combined with photodynamic therapy for cutaneous infectious granulomatosis.

Compound glycyrrhizin tablets combined with the 308 nm excimer laser in the treatment of vitiligo: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although the 308 nm excimer laser is commonly used to cure vitiligo, its clinical efficacy is limited. Experts have found that the efficacy of compound glycyrrhizin tablets combined with the 308 nm excimer laser in the treatment of vitiligo is significantly enhanced, but the specific research methods and clinical data must be clarified. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical efficacy of compound glycyrrhizin tablets combined with the 308 nm excimer laser in the treatment of vitiligo. METHODS: Until August 2022, studies were searched in PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the Chinese Scientific Journal Database, and the Wan Fang Database. We also searched for clinical RCTs involving compound glycyrrhizin tablets combined with the 308 nm excimer laser for the treatment of vitiligo. The meta-analysis was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook's recommendations. Two reviewers regulated the study selection, data extraction, and assessment of bias risk, and consulted a third reviewer as necessary. For the meta-analysis, Review Manager 5.4 was utilized. RESULTS: Finally, 9 articles and 1052 patients were included. A systematic review compared the efficacy of compound glycyrrhizin tablets combined with the 308 nm excimer laser to that of the 308 nm excimer laser alone: OR = 3.33, p < 0.00001, 95% confidence interval [2.25, 4.92]. CONCLUSION: In the treatment of vitiligo, compound glycyrrhizin tablets combined with the 308 nm excimer laser are more effective than the 308 nm excimer laser alone, and there are no serious adverse reactions. It is a safe and efficient way of treatment.

Morphological and physiological comparison of taxa comprising the Sporothrix schenckii complex.

Based on recent molecular data, it has been suggested that Sporothrix globosa is the main causal agent of sporotrichosis in China. The objective of this study was to compare the morphology, growth characteristics, patterns of carbon source usage, and susceptibility to antifungal agents among Sporothrix strains. A total of 15 clinical strains confirmed to be S. globosa, from three different regions of China, and 11 ex-type strains from the CBS-KNAW biodiversity center were obtained. The elongated conidia of S. pallida, S. variecibatus, S. schenckii, and S. schenckii luriei were clearly different from the subglobose and globose conidia of S. globosa strains. S. schenckii is able to assimilate sucrose, raffinose, and ribitol. Susceptibility profiles of these Sporothrix species were evaluated by measuring minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). Fluconazole, itraconazole, terbinafine, and amphotericin B showed good activity against most S. globosa clinical isolates from China. Potassium iodide also showed a low MIC against S. pallida, while fluconazole showed a high MIC for S. mexicana, S. humicola, S. globosa, S. schenckii, and S. inflata; these strains might be considered tolerant. The species showed differences in susceptibility to antifungal drugs and should therefore be properly identified during diagnosis prior to designing therapeutic strategies.