Publications by authors named "Christos C. Zouboulis"

Background: Oily skin not only threatens people with aesthetic and hygienic discomfort but also confronts them with annoying skin problems. To explore new skin care ingredients from herbal or plant extracts and understand their underlying mechanism for sebum control would assist in the discovery of desirable sebosuppressive agents, though it is still a deserving and challenging task.

Aim: To explore the effect of Camellia saponin (CS) on modulating the lipogenesis of human sebocytes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Excessive lipogenesis of the skin triggers some dermatological concerns, such as enlarged pores, acne, and blackheads. Although topical drug treatments can offer temporary relief, their prolonged usage may lead to side effects of dryness, irritation, or allergic reactions. Consequently, the development of safer and efficacious ingredients in cosmetics for managing sebum overproduction represents a significant yet challenging endeavor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a debilitating, life-limiting disease. According to recent estimates, 415 million adults currently suffer from the disease. This number is expected to rise to 642 million by 2040.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized melanoma treatment, but the high number of non-responders still emphasizes the need for improvement of therapy. One potential avenue for enhancing anti-tumor treatment is through the modulation of coagulation and platelet activity. Both have been found to play an important role in the tumor microenvironment, tumor growth and metastasis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The apocrine glands (AGs) are not considered to be primarily involved in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). This study investigated the potential role of AGs in HS pathogenesis using immunohistochemistry and single-cell sequencing of nonlesional skin and early lesional skin (LS) from patients with HS (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 8). AG cell destruction was more frequent, and AG size was significantly reduced in the nonlesional skin and LS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4) is a validated tool that measures inflammatory lesions, including draining tunnels, in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).

Objective: To evaluate secukinumab efficacy using IHS4 in patients with moderate to severe HS.

Methods: Data from the SUNSHINE and SUNRISE trials, which assessed subcutaneous secukinumab 300 mg every 2 (SECQ2W) and 4 (SECQ4W) weeks in adults with moderate to severe HS, were analyzed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) contributes to acne vulgaris by causing dysfunction in sebaceous glands, and the study focuses on the effects of Paeoniflorin (Pae), a compound derived from paeony, on this process.* -
  • The research demonstrated that Pae can inhibit cell growth, promote cell death, and reduce fat and inflammatory substance production in sebocytes exposed to IGF-1.* -
  • Pae's anti-acne properties are linked to its ability to affect key signaling pathways (PI3K/Akt/FoxO1 and JAK2/STAT3) that regulate cell proliferation and inflammation.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) diagnosis often faces a global delay of 7.2 years due to factors like lack of recognition, stigma, and socioeconomic barriers. Limited effective therapies and frequent exacerbations impact patients' quality of life, posing a significant burden on healthcare systems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: The goal of the present study was to develop a short version (SV) of the Quality of Life Relevance-Acne (QOLRELEVANCE-ACNE) based on the identified most relevant items for acne patients.

Methods: Members of the international internet group for acne patients were asked to fill in the short prototype version of the QOLRELEVANCE-ACNE. Internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) method of staging melanoma is dated and inaccurate. It ignores important prognostic melanoma features, especially the patient's age. BAUSSS is more accurate in determining survival risk for primary cutaneous melanoma patients who have no clinical or imaging evidence of nodal or distant metastases.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a persistent, recurring skin inflammatory condition linked to various comorbidities. Management involves antibiotics, hormone therapy, immune-modulating drugs, surgery, and treatment of comorbidities. The objectives of the study were to assess the comorbidities, clinical presentation subtypes, and applied treatment of patients with HS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Branched gold and silver nanoparticles coated with polydopamine (Au-Ag-PDA) demonstrate high photothermal conversion efficiency. Utilizing umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell membranes (MSCM) as an effective drug delivery system, our preliminary studies investigated the suppression of sebum secretion in sebaceous glands using MSCM-coated Au-Ag-PDA nano-particles (Au-Ag-PDA@MSCM) combined with 808 nm laser irradiation, showing potential for dermatological applications in acne treatment.

Methods: This study employs proteomic analysis, complemented by subsequent techniques such as Western blotting (WB), small interfering RNA (siRNA), and transmission electron microscopy, to further investigate the differential mechanisms by which Au-Ag-PDA and Au-Ag-PDA@MSCM-mediated photothermal therapy (PTT) suppress sebum secretion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Methods for describing and reporting the clinical and histologic characteristics of cutaneous tissue samples from patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are not currently standardized, limiting clinicians' and scientists' ability to uniformly record, report, and communicate about the characteristics of tissue used in translational experiments. A recently published consensus statement outlined morphological definitions of typical HS lesions, but no consensus has been reached regarding clinical characterization and examination of HS tissue samples. In this study, we aimed to establish a protocol for reporting histopathologic and clinical characteristics of HS tissue specimens.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Sebaceous glands and their secretion, sebum, are crucial for skin health and function, and issues with these glands can lead to skin problems like acne.
  • Recent research reveals that sebum not only plays a role in skin health but also has potential impacts on immune functions and overall body metabolism.
  • The study provided detailed insights into the different stages of sebocyte (sebaceous gland cell) differentiation using advanced techniques and validated their findings through comparison with existing data, paving the way for new avenues in skincare and treatment research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Bimekizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting IL-17F and IL-17A, is being tested as a treatment for moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa, a condition with limited treatment options.
  • The BE HEARD I and II trials were 48-week, randomized, double-blind studies that evaluated the efficacy and safety of various dosing regimens of bimekizumab compared to a placebo in over 1,000 patients.
  • Results showed significant improvement in patients receiving bimekizumab every 2 weeks, meeting the primary efficacy goal of at least a 50% reduction in disease symptoms by week 16.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The S2k guideline for hidradenitis suppurativa/acne inversa (HS/AI) serves as a decision aid for selecting effective treatments for this chronic skin condition, which is characterized by painful lesions in areas rich in apocrine glands.
  • The condition shows a prevalence of 0.3% in Germany, often diagnosed with a significant delay of about 10 years, and can severely impact a patient's quality of life due to the painful and recurrent nature of the disease.
  • Treatment options include various medications like oral tetracyclines and biologics such as adalimumab, with a focus on assessing disease severity using tools like the International Hidradenitis Supp
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Participating members of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Task Forces on quality of life (QoL) and Patient Oriented Outcomes and Acne, Rosacea and Hidradenitis Suppurativa initiated data collection in 9 European countries and formed the list of the most relevant topics for acne patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a new acne-specific health-related QoL instrument based on the list of the most relevant topics for acne patients.

Methods: After assessment by acne patients ( = 715) on how clear and relevant the items in the prototype questionnaire were, a group of experts on acne and QoL performed discussions on items inclusion, which resulted in a series of 21 items.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Acne is a common chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous unit. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 3 (TRPV3) is an ion channel that is involved in inflammatory dermatosis development. However, the involvement of TRPV3 in acne-related inflammation remains unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study examines inconsistencies in how healthcare providers and patients identify and count lesions associated with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), highlighting potential issues in the existing clinical response measurement tool, HiSCR, and the impact of rater training on trial outcomes.
  • - An online survey of 47 members from the HISTORIC collaboration revealed significant variability in lesion classification, with many providers differing on whether lesions should be treated as single or multiple entities based on their morphology.
  • - Findings suggest a need for standardized, consensus-driven guidelines for rater training in HS clinical trials to improve consistency in lesion characterization and potentially enhance trial results.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with a considerable disease burden. Existing treatment options are limited and often suboptimal; a high unmet need exists for effective targeted therapies.

Objectives: To explore the effects of spesolimab treatment in patients with HS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Maximizing survival for patients with primary cutaneous melanomas (melanomas) depends on an early diagnosis and appropriate management. Several new drugs have been shown to improve survival in high-risk melanoma patients. Despite well-documented guidelines, many patients do not receive optimal management, particularly when considering patient age.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic skin condition, and secukinumab has shown sustained effectiveness and good safety for treating moderate-to-severe HS, though its performance in previously treated patients is unclear.
  • The study analyzes data from two phase III trials (SUNSHINE and SUNRISE) to assess how prior exposure to biologics influences the efficacy and safety of secukinumab in HS patients.
  • Results showed that secukinumab was more effective than placebo at 16 weeks for both biologic-experienced and biologic-naïve patients, indicating it remains a viable treatment option regardless of prior biologic treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF