Trichotillomania.

Unlabelled: Trichotillomania is a neglected psychiatric disorder with dermatologic expression that has only recently received research attention. On the basis of clinical data, trichotillomania appears to be far more common than previously believed. Like obsessive-compulsive disorder, the hair-pulling behavior is recognized as senseless and undesirable but is performed in response to several emotions and affects, such as increasing anxiety, or unconscious conflicts with resultant tension relief.

New insights into the pathogenesis of vitiligo: imbalance of epidermal cytokines at sites of lesions.

Vitiligo is a skin disease that is caused by selective destruction of melanocytes and is characterized by white spots. Melanocytes and keratinocytes seem to exhibit a functional close relationship, mediated at least in part by keratinocyte-derived cytokines, which seem important for survival and activity of melanocytic cells. We wanted to investigate the hypothesis that in vitiligo the expression of epidermal cytokines may be modified compared with normal skin.