A Comparative Study of Oral Cyclosporine and Betamethasone Minipulse Therapy in the Treatment of Alopecia Areata.

Background: Various systemic agents have been assessed for the treatment of alopecia areata (AA); however, there is a paucity of comparative studies.

Objective: To assess and compare cyclosporine and betamethasone minipulse therapy as treatments for AA with regard to effectiveness and safety.

Methods: Data were collected from 88 patients who received at least 3 months of oral cyclosporine (n=51) or betamethasone minipulse therapy (n=37) for AA.

Alopecia Areata in the Elderly: A 10-Year Retrospective Study.

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that typically occurs in young adults. AA in the elderly is relatively rare, thus little data have been reported.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the clinical characteristics of AA in the elderly.

Topical timolol maleate 0.5% for infantile hemangioma; it's effectiveness and/or adjunctive pulsed dye laser - single center experience of 102 cases in Korea.

Although oral beta-blocker, propranolol, was shown excellent outcome for infantile hemangioma (IH) up to date, concern of side effects and reluctance of treatment-related cumbersome evaluations are major obstacles to employ. Instead, topical beta-blockers were recently introduced as an effective alternative, but few studies are reported. So we performed a retrospective study of IH treated with topical beta-blockers, timolol maleate 0.

Effects of topical application of a recombinant staphylococcal enterotoxin A on DNCB and dust mite extract-induced atopic dermatitis-like lesions in a murine model.

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with biphasic T cell-mediated abnormalities. Staphylococcal superantigens contribute to the exacerbation of inflammation in AD. The underlying immunopathological mechanisms are not fully understood.

Decreasing incidence of Trichophyton mentagrophytes in Korea: analysis of 6,250 cases during the last 21-year-period (1992-2012).

Trichophyton mentagrophytes is the second common dermatophyte in Korea. However, few reports have been issued on the epidemiological and mycological characteristics of T. mentagrophytes in Korea based on long-term, large-scale study.

Ultraviolet B irradiation increases the expression of inflammatory cytokines in cultured sebocytes.

Sebaceous gland hyperplasia and increased sebum secretion after irradiation of ultraviolet (UV)-B has been widely accepted. This study was performed to clarify expression of inflammatory cytokines after irradiating UV-B in cultured sebocytes. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to measure gene expression of inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α, in cultured sebocytes after exposure to 40 and 70 mJ/cm(2) UV-B.