Simulants of Malignant Melanoma.

During the recent period, dermoscopy has yielded improvement in the early disclosure of various atypical melanocytic neoplasms (AMN) of the skin. Beyond this clinical procedure, AMN histopathology remains mandatory for establishing their precise diagnosis. Of note, panels of experts in AMN merely report moderate agreement in various puzzling cases.

Hedgehog- and mTOR-targeted therapies for advanced basal cell carcinomas.

Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are the most frequent human cancer. Over 90% of all BCCs have a mutation in PTCH1 or smoothened, two conducting proteins of the Hedgehog pathway. They rarely progress deeply and metastasize; however, if they do, these advanced basal cell carcinoma become amenable to treatment by inhibiting the Hedgehog and the P13K-mTOR pathways.

Protomyofibroblast Pathway in Early Thermal Burn Healing.

Wound healing following partial thickness thermal burns is commonly hampered by the risk of hypertrophic scarring. Skin myofibroblast (MF) density is commonly increased in postburn healing. The transition between fibroblast-like cells and α-smooth muscle actin (SMA)+ MF possibly begins with CD14+ monocytes, evolving to CD14+ CD34+ fibrocytes, followed by β-SMA+ protomyofibroblast (PMF) maturation.

Dormancy of growth-stunted malignant melanoma: sustainable and smoldering patterns.

The presentations of primary and metastatic cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) are very diverse. Evidence increasingly indicates that single CMM cells spread to distant sites quite early during cancer progression and are soon eliminated before they become clinically detectable. However bulky metastases which appear at a later stage might derive from some of these early neoplastic cells.

From observational to analytical morphology of the stratum corneum: progress avoiding hazardous animal and human testings.

Background: In cosmetic science, noninvasive sampling of the upper part of the stratum corneum is conveniently performed using strippings with adhesive-coated discs (SACD) and cyanoacrylate skin surface strippings (CSSSs).

Methods: Under controlled conditions, it is possible to scrutinize SACD and CSSS with objectivity using appropriate methods of analytical morphology. These procedures apply to a series of clinical conditions including xerosis grading, comedometry, corneodynamics, corneomelametry, corneosurfametry, corneoxenometry, and dandruff assessment.

In vivo skin fluorescence imaging in young Caucasian adults with early malignant melanomas.

Background: Human cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is an aggressive cancer showing a dramatic worldwide increase in incidence over the past few decades. The most prominent relative epidemiological increase has been disclosed in young women. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of chronic sun exposures in order to rate the extend of melanocytic stimulations in the vicinity of CMM.

Cyanoacrylate skin surface stripping and the 3S-Biokit advent in tropical dermatology: a look from Liège.

In the dermatopathology field, some simple available laboratory tests require minimum equipment for establishing a diagnosis. Among them, the cyanoacrylate skin surface stripping (CSSS), formerly named skin surface biopsy or follicular biopsy, represents a convenient low cost procedure. It is a minimally invasive method collecting a continuous sheet of stratum corneum and horny follicular casts.

Asymmetric facial skin viscoelasticity during climacteric aging.

Background: Climacteric skin aging affects certain biophysical characteristics of facial skin. The purpose of the present study was to assess the symmetric involvement of the cheeks in this stage of the aging process.

Methods: Skin viscoelasticity was compared on both cheeks in premenopausal and post-menopausal women with indoor occupational activities somewhat limiting the influence of chronic sun exposure.

Skin viscoelasticity in incipient gravitational syndrome.

Background: The gravitational syndrome resulting from venous pressure elevation occasionally develops on the legs during pregnancy. The limb tends to enlarge and become stiffer. The body contours are altered.

Revisiting the cutaneous impact of oral hormone replacement therapy.

Menopause is a key point moment in the specific aging process of women. It represents a universal evolution in life. Its initiation is defined by a 12-month amenorrhea following the ultimate menstrual period.

Alterations in hair follicle dynamics in women.

Endocrine changes supervening after parturition and menopause participate in the control of sebum production and hair growth modulation. The ensuing conditions include some peculiar aspects of hair loss (effluvium), alopecia, and facial hirsutism. The hair cycling is of major clinical relevance because most hair growth disorders result from disturbances in this chronobiological feature.

Immunohistochemical patterns in the interfollicular Caucasian scalps: influences of age, gender, and alopecia.

Skin ageing and gender influences on the scalp have been seldom studied. We revisited the changes in the interfollicular scalp. The study was performed on a population of 650 volunteers (300 women and 350 men) for over 7 years.

The weather-beaten dorsal hand clinical rating, shadow casting optical profilometry, and skin capacitance mapping.

Laypeople commonly perceive some skin xerosis and withering (roughness) changes during winter on some parts of the body, particularly on the dorsal hands. The aim of the study was to assess the withered skin surface changes occurring during the four seasons. A total of 47 menopausal women completed the study.

Dermal ultrastructure in collagen VI myopathy.

The COL VI mutations are responsible for a spectrum of myopathies. The authors report cutaneous ultrastructural alterations in a patient with COL6A2 myopathy. The changes include variations in size of collagen fibrils, flower-like sections of collagen fibrils, as well as thickening of vessel and nerve basement membranes.

Immunohistochemical sweat gland profiles.

Background: Human sweat glands are heterogeneous in their structures and functions. Accordingly, eccrine, apocrine, and apoeccrine glands are distinguished.

Aims: Some immunohistochemical markers are expected to distinguish the sweat gland types in their secretory and excretory parts.

In vivo evaluation of the skin tensile strength by the suction method: pilot study coping with hysteresis and creep extension.

From an engineering standpoint, both the skin and subcutaneous tissue act as interconnected load-transmitting structures. They are subject to a variety of intrinsic and environmental influences. Changes in the cutaneous viscoelasticity represent an important aspect in a series of skin conditions.

Scrutinizing skinfield melanin patterns in young Caucasian women.

Introduction: When using adequate wavelength illumination and high resolution recordings, Caucasian skin color appears uneven. The patterns of faint mosaic melanoderma (FMM) are diverse and possibly related to the risk of skin cancer development.

Areas Covered: The current peer-reviewed publications about objective methods quantifying FMM are revisited.

The skin landscape in diabetes mellitus. Focus on dermocosmetic management.

Background: Some relationships are established between diabetes mellitus (DM) and a series of cutaneous disorders. Specific dermatoses are markers for undiagnosed DM. Other disorders represent supervening complications in an already treated DM patient.

Critical assessment of diabetic xerosis.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is commonly responsible for skin changes including discrete to mild xerosis.

Areas Covered: This review focuses on some selected relevant bioinstrumental methods assessing diabetes xerosis. Peer-reviewed articles on objective non-invasive methods were scrutinized.

Scleroderma: skin stiffness assessment using the stress-strain relationship under progressive suction.

Introduction: A few non-invasive biometrological methods are available for monitoring skin stiffening in systemic scleroderma. Among them, the Cutometer® is used for years by several clinical teams.

Objectives: To revisit the microscopic structure of the dermal fibrous networks in scleroderma and the relationship with changes in viscoelasticity.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis and antifolate drugs in cancer chemotherapy.

Folates are one-carbon donors essential for synthesizing purines, pyrimidines, serine, and methionine. They correspond to anionic hydrophilic molecules essential for DNA synthesis in mammalian cells. The latter cells lack the capacity to synthesize folates.

Chronicle of a pigmented superficial Basal cell carcinoma.

Dermoscopic patterns of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are well defined, but the dynamics of dermoscopic changes in time were apparently never described so far. In this paper, prominent changes were observed over a 8-week period, allowing to establish a close connection between spoke wheel areas and maple leaf-like aspects, through progressive thickening of the former ones. A chronobiological phenomenon ruling synchronous apoptosis in some of the most superficial BCC nests is suggested, leading to a wax and wane process of millimetric crusts, taking part in the spontaneous BCC regression/progression process.

HOX Gene Aberrant Expression in Skin Melanoma: A Review.

The homeobox family and its subset of HOX gene products represent a family of transcription factors directing DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions. In the embryo, they are central regulators in cell differentiation during morphogenesis. A series of genes of the four HOX gene clusters A, B, C, and D were reported to show aberrant expressions in oncogenesis, particularly in cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM).

Dermal ultrastructure in low Beighton score members of 17 families with hypermobile-type Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

The distinction between the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome hypermobile type (EDSH) and the benign joint hypermobility syndrome (BJHS) is unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare skin ultrastructural abnormalities of EDSH and BJHS among different families. Skin of 23 EDSH, 27 BJHS, and 41 asymptomatic subjects from 17 families was examined using transmission electron microscopy.