Photodynamic therapy in the treatment of xeroderma pigmentosum: A case report.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive dermatosis that is often complicated by multiple skin tumours at exposed locations, which are difficult to treat. We report a case of a 12-year-old girl with XP treated with oral retinoic acid and photodynamic therapy (PDT) with good clinical results. She had an 8-year history of multiple skin lesions that first appeared on her nasal dorsum, but gradually increased in size and spread to her entire face, neck, and upper limbs.

Hydroxychloroquine protects melanocytes from autoantibody-induced injury by reducing the binding of antigen-antibody complexes.

Vitiligo is a polygenic autoimmune disorder characterized by loss of pigmentation due to melanocyte destruction. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an effective immunosuppressant widely used in the treatment of autoimmune disorders. As generalized vitiligo (GV) is commonly considered to be a T cell and autoantibody-induced immune disorder, the present study aimed to determine whether HCQ protects melanocytes from autoantibody‑induced disruption.

Efficacy of quantifying melanosome transfer with flow cytometry in a human melanocyte-HaCaT keratinocyte co-culture system in vitro.

In this study, we describe a simple, specific, reproducible and quantitative assay system to assess melanosome transfer. We first established a co-culture model of normal human epidermal melanocytes and HaCaT keratinocytes. The cells were co-cultured for 72 h in a serum-free keratinocyte growth media and double labelled with Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated antibody against the melanosome-specific protein gp100, and with Phycoerythrin (PE)-conjugated antibody against the keratinocyte-specific marker cytokeratin.

Oligomeric proanthocyanidins from grape seeds effectively inhibit ultraviolet-induced melanogenesis of human melanocytes in vitro.

The oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs) from grape seeds are expected to be novel and potent anti-oxidants that more effectively protect skin cells against oxidative stress. UV-induced oxidative stress is considered to promote melanogenesis and serious skin damage. However, the effect of OPCs on UV-induced melanogenesis is still unknown.