Journal of Dermatology最新文献

Leukoderma/vitiligo is a serious pigmentary disorder that notably impairs the patient's quality of life. In particular, chemical leukoderma (CL)/vitiligo refers to acquired depigmentation of the skin induced by exposure to certain chemicals. In this review, the term “CL” is defined as the temporary, localized loss of pigmentation at the site of direct chemical exposure. When the causative chemical is removed, these skin patches undergo re-pigmentation, indicating the restoration of melanocytes to their original condition. However, when the chemical-induced skin depigmentation does not recover after the chemical is removed, or when de novo depigmented lesions emerge, it is classified as chemical-induced vitiligo. This condition indicates that, even after chemical removal, the mature melanocytes cannot recover because of factors including, but not limited to, autoimmunity, stem cell depletion, and unknown factors. In this review, we summarized the latest pathological findings for each condition, focusing on rhododendrol, which is known to induce both phenotypes and cause an outbreak, which affected nearly 20,000 patients in Japan and other Asian countries.

Telogen effluvium (TE) refers to a transient hair loss condition due to the global and premature transition of scalp hair follicles from the anagen to the telogen phase of the hair cycle leading to excessive hair loss, which is triggered by a variety of physical/emotional stress, including severe infectious diseases. Because of its self-healing nature, attempts to develop remedies for TE have rarely been conducted; still the demand for TE treatment exists as the condition can significantly impair the quality of life of affected individuals. This study aims to establish a mouse model of TE induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and evaluate the therapeutic effects of topical minoxidil (tMXD), an established hair growth-promoting medication. Mice had their dorsal hairs plucked to induce anagen transition and were administered LPS. LPS elicited a condition mimicking a cytokine storm with increases in interleukin-6 levels and neutrophil counts. Accelerated transition of hair follicles into telogen was observed in LPS-treated mice. Intriguingly, tMXD accelerated hair regrowth in LPS-treated mice, resulting in earlier achievement of complete hair regrowth compared to controls. In aggregate, a previously unreported TE mouse model is established, and its use supports the ameliorative effect of tMXD on TE.

In accordance with the advancement of therapies for skin malignancies, the Japanese Dermatological Association and Japanese Skin Cancer Society updated guidelines for skin malignancies to reflect current clinical practices. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is one of the most ordinary malignant cutaneous tumors and its incidence continues to grow in many countries. Clinically, BCCs in East Asian populations are usually pigmented, and 88.3% of total BCCs in Japanese patients are pigmented. However, a low proportion of BCCs in Western populations are pigmented. Therefore, diagnosis and tumor border evaluation of BCCs in Western populations are relatively difficult. From these characteristics, clinical guidelines for East Asian BCCs should differ from those for Western BCCs. This revised Japanese clinical guideline for BCC was also undertaken by a committee comprising experts across relevant fields who meticulously reviewed and systematized a wide range of literature on BCC to develop comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines. Literature searches were conducted by the Japan Medical Library in accordance with the Minds Clinical Practice Guideline Creation Manual 2020, ver. 3.0. Four clinical questions (CQs) were established, and corresponding recommendation statements were provided for each CQ. There are about the reduced margin resection for pigmented BCCs, the radiotherapy for the recurrent BCCs, the topical immune response modifiers, and the systemic therapy using immune checkpoint inhibitors. This Japanese clinical guideline for BCC will help clinicians select suitable therapies for BCCs in East Asia.