What's already known about this topic?

• Vitiliginous skin shows a complete loss of melanin pigment and a marked reduction or absence of melanocytes along the basal layer of melanocytes.
• Histopathological findings in vitiligo skin are discordant according to the type of depigmented lesions.

What does this study add?

• For the first time, two possible patterns of melanocyte disappearance that are correlated with histopathological findings and clinical features are proposed for nonsegmental vitiligo.

What's already known about this topic?

• Inflammatory and proliferative abnormalities of psoriatic lesions are accompanied by alterations in the 12- and 15-lipoxygenase pathways.

What does this study add?

• We investigated systemic production of 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE) and its eicosanoid metabolites tetranor-12(S)-HETE, 12-oxo-eicosatetraenoic acid and 15(S)-HETE in a case–control study.
• Urinary excretion of lipoxygenases products was measured and candidate gene polymorphisms ascertained. No genetic association was found between psoriasis and the ALOX12 rs1126667 or ALOX15 rs11568070 variants.
• In patients with psoriasis, a significantly altered metabolism of 12(S)-HETE was found, manifested by its enhanced breakdown to tetranor-12(S)-HETE.

What's already known about this topic?

• The Aldara^®-induced mouse model of psoriasis is now a frequently used model of psoriasis.
• The phenotype of the treated mouse skin shows many similarities with human psoriasis including the dependence of the cytokine pathways on the interleukin-23/17 axis.

What does this study add?

• The application of Aldara on human nonlesional psoriatic skin induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation, although typical psoriasis did not develop.

What's already known about this topic?

• Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by increased epidermal hyperproliferation, aberrant keratinocyte differentiation, impaired barrier function and infiltration of inflammatory cells.

What does this study add?

• Topical application of delphinidin, an anthocyanidin present in pigmented fruits and vegetables, reduced psoriasiform lesions and was associated with induction of epidermal differentiation, a reduction in keratinocyte proliferation, and modulation in the expression of tight junction proteins.
• Delphinidin treatment inhibited proinflammatory cytokines, infiltration of inflammatory macrophages and neutrophils, and increased the expression of activator protein-1 proteins.

What's already known about this topic?

• Short-term and long-term sequential digital dermoscopy is useful for monitoring atypical melanocytic lesions for diagnosing featureless melanoma.
• Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) provides a real-time noninvasive optical method and improves the diagnostic accuracy of melanoma, thus reducing unnecessary excisions.

What does this study add?

• Combining sequential dermoscopy imaging with RCM may help to reduce the burden of unnecessary excisions of lesions (false-positive) revealing minor dermoscopic changes at follow-up and RCM-negative score.

What's already known about this topic?

• Most lymphoid-rich inflammatory skin conditions are composed of T cells expressing αβ T-cell receptors (TCRs) and, in general, TCR γδ T-cell infiltrates of the skin are associated with aggressive cutaneous lymphomas.

What does this study add?

• Regardless of the presence or absence of lymphoid atypia, a subset of γδ T-cell-rich cutaneous lymphoid infiltrates are self-limited and indolent. Pityriasis lichenoides and lymphomatoid papulosis may present as a predominant γδ T-cell infiltrate.

What's already known about this topic?

• Fungi are present in onycholytic nails and in normal-appearing nails of individuals with dermatophytosis of other bodily sites.

What does this study add?

• Fungal organisms were found in the normal-appearing nails and feet of individuals without evidence of clinical pathology of the nails and feet.
• Although fungi may exist on the host in passive form, it is hypothesized that the presence of these organisms represents a preliminary stage of infection.

What's already known about this topic?

• Nanoparticles can exert immunotoxic effects.
• TiO₂ nanoparticles modulate dermal sensitization with dinitrochlorobenzene after subcutaneous injection (worst-case scenario).

What does this study add?

• TiO₂ nanoparticles modulate chemical-induced dermal sensitization after topical exposure.
• Nanoparticles incorporated in a paint matrix have no immunomodulatory effects on dermal sensitization after topical exposure.

What's already known about this topic?

• Melanocytes, the targeted cells in vitiligo skin, are also present in the inner ear and are critical for normal cochlear function.
• Clinical studies revealed that 12·5–18·9% of patients with vitiligo had sensorineural hearing loss.
• No studies have correlated the cochlear function and vitiligo subtype.

What does this study add?

• We compared cochlear function, measured by distortion product otoacoustic emissions, in patients with segmental vitiligo and nonsegmental vitiligo.
• Bilateral cochlear dysfunction is common in both types.

What's already known about this topic?

• Peripheral neuropathies can cause itch and strange sensations in the skin, although reports are limited.
• Abnormal sweating is a finding in and marker for neuropathies, especially small-fibre neuropathy. Thermoregulatory sweat testing (TST) is an excellent tool to measure whole-body sweating.
• It is not known whether otherwise unexplained itch and strange sensations in the skin can result from peripheral neuropathy and, if so, how they can be diagnosed.

What does this study add?

• Results of TST were abnormal in the majority of patients with itching, burning, numbness and tingling sensations involving the skin, and the areas of anhidrosis on TST corresponded to their symptomatic areas.
• These results indicate that itching and strange sensations in the skin may be attributable to small-fibre neuropathy.
• Small-fibre neuropathy may underlie many cutaneous symptoms, and the neuropathy may be estimated using TST.

What's already known about this topic?

• Evidence suggests an association between psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome.
• Population-based studies including mild-to-severe cases, age and sex variation, and information on confounding factors are scarce.

What does this study add?

• In this population-based study individuals reporting psoriasis displayed elevated prevalence of metabolic syndrome.
• The strongest association was present in young women, where those with psoriasis had up to fourfold increased odds of metabolic syndrome, independent of lifestyle risk factors.
• The results support a possible benefit from targeted screening for metabolic risk factors in all patients with psoriasis, irrespective of age and disease severity.

What's already known about this topic?

• Smoking is a well-established risk factor for developing psoriasis and is associated with more severe disease.
• Smoking cessation does not appear to result in clinical improvement of psoriasis.
• Whether smoking in patients with psoriasis impacts response to systemic therapy is unknown.

What does this study add?

• In our retrospective psoriatic cohort smoking did not affect response to systemic treatments.
• A prospective study examining the complex relationship between smoking, psoriasis and response to systemic therapy is warranted.

What's already known about this topic?

• There are no standardized outcome measures to assess the degree of depigmentation in vitiligo.
• There is limited knowledge on the measurement properties of outcome measures in vitiligo.

What does this study add?

• The Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) and the Vitiligo European Task Force assessment (VETFa) are reliable and responsive instruments to assess the degree of depigmentation in patients with vitiligo.
• VASI and VETFa are potential measurement instruments to assess the degree of depigmentation in vitiligo research.

What's already known about this topic?

• Heart rates are thought to decrease during propranolol treatment for infantile haemangioma (IH).

What does this study add?

• Our study describes the careful and close monitoring of heart rate during 16 weeks of propranolol treatment in subjects with IH.
• We found that all heart rates were within the normal range and that a three-times-daily dosing regimen had no significant effects on heart rates in patients with IH.
• Our results reassure the safety of using propranolol at 2 mg kg⁻¹ per day with respect to heart rates for up to 16 weeks of therapy.

What's already known about this topic?

• Filaggrin gene (FLG) loss-of-function mutations are a major risk factor for atopic dermatitis (AD).
• It is not clear whether FLG mutations are also important for late childhood or adult onset of AD, which develops in up to 20% of patients.

What does this study add?

• The development of AD during late childhood or adulthood is not associated with FLG loss-of-function mutations.
• Other susceptibility genes and/or other types of dysregulation are likely to be involved in the development of late-onset AD.

What's already known about this topic?

• Broadband ultraviolet B (BB-UVB) has been further replaced by narrowband UVB 311 nm (NB-UVB), especially in the therapy of psoriasis, atopic eczema and vitiligo.
• Several studies have indicated a better therapeutic response for almost all indications compared with BB-UVB.

What does this study add?

• This study shows the phototoxic effects of NB-UVB in comparison with BB-UVB in an in vivo setting.
• Furthermore, it shows that the photo hen's egg test is a valid model for examining phototoxicity.

What's already known about this topic?

• Daylight-mediated photodynamic therapy (dPDT) with methyl aminolaevulinate (MAL) significantly reduces pain intensities compared with conventional PDT for treatment of actinic keratoses (AK) in field-cancerized skin.
• Ablative fractional laser (AFL) resurfacing creates vertical channels that facilitate uptake of MAL and thereby increases the efficacy of PDT.

What does this study add?

• This study demonstrates that AFL pretreatment combined with dPDT has high tolerability and increased efficacy compared with conventional and dPDT for difficult-to-treat AK in organ transplant recipients.

What's already known about this topic?

• Sunscreen is recommended to prevent sunburn and skin cancer.

What does this study add?

• The prevalence of sunscreen use is increasing among Norwegian women, but this increase has not been accompanied by a decrease in sunburn.
• Most Norwegian women use sunscreen, but less than one-third use sunscreen with the recommended sun protection factor (SPF).
• Using sunscreen with SPF ≥ 15 was not associated with lower risk of recent sunburn.

What's already known about this topic?

• Secukinumab is a fully human antibody targeting interleukin-17A.

What does this study add?

• Use of the secukinumab PFS was associated with high usability as determined by successful, hazard-free, subject-accepted self-injection.
• Self-administration of secukinumab via PFS allows the delivery of its clinical benefits with improved convenience in disease management.
• This phase 3 study in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis showed that secukinumab administration via pre-filled syringe (PFS) demonstrated significant clinical efficacy vs. placebo, with an acceptable safety profile.

What's already known about this topic?

• Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) can cause a concentration- and frequency-dependent cutaneous irritation. A low concentration of BPO has been associated with improved tolerability.
• A topical fixed-dose combination gel of clindamycin phosphate 1·2%–BPO 3·0% is an effective treatment for acne in white people.

What does this study add?

• A gel combination of clindamycin phosphate 1·2% with BPO 3·0% is effective and maintains an acceptable safety and tolerability profile in Japanese patients with acne, who are perceived to have more sensitive skin than other ethnic groups.

What's already known about this topic?

• Biologics currently indicated for psoriasis include adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab and ustekinumab.
• There are few randomized clinical trials that directly compare the efficacy of biological treatments for psoriasis.
• A number of cross-trial comparisons of biological treatment efficacy have been published and used by Health Technology Assessment authorities; however, these comparisons can be confounded by substantial cross-trial variation in reference arm response rates.

What does this study add?

• This is the first network meta-analysis of biological therapies for treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis that adjusts for reference arm responses.
• Results of this meta-analysis show that reference arm responses are an important confounder of biological treatment effects in psoriasis trials.
• A network meta-analysis adjusting for reference arm response provides a significantly better fit to clinical trial data than previously published approaches, and changes the comparative efficacy of available biologics for psoriasis.