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Atopic dermatitis (AD)/atopic eczema is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease affecting nearly 14% of the adult population. An important pathogenetic pillar in AD is the disrupted skin barrier function (SBF). The atopic stratum corneum (SC) has been examined using several methods, including Raman microspectroscopy, yet so far, there is no depth-dependent analysis over the entire SC thickness. Therefore, we recruited 21 AD patients (9 female, 12 male) and compared the lesional (LAS) with non-lesional atopic skin (nLAS) in vivo with confocal Raman microspectroscopy. Our results demonstrated decreased total intercellular lipid and carotenoid concentrations, as well as a shift towards decreased orthorhombic lateral lipid organisation in LAS. Further, we observed a lower concentration of natural moisturising factor (NMF) and a trend towards increased strongly bound and decreased weakly bound water in LAS. Finally, LAS showed an altered secondary and tertiary keratin structure, demonstrating a more folded keratin state than nLAS. The obtained results are discussed in comparison with healthy skin and yield detailed insights into the atopic SC structure. LAS clearly shows molecular alterations at certain SC depths compared with nLAS which imply a reduced SBF. A thorough understanding of these alterations provides useful information on the aetiology of AD and for the development/control of targeted topical therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canine atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disorder resulting from imbalance between T lymphocytes. Current canine AD treatments use immunomodulatory drugs, but some of the dogs have limitations that do not respond to standard treatment, or relapse after a period of time. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory effect of mesenchymal stem cells derived from canine adipose tissue (cASCs) and cASCs-derived extracellular vesicles (cASC-EVs) on AD. First, we isolated and characterized cASCs and cASCs-EVs to use for the improvement of canine atopic dermatitis. Here, we investigated the effect of cASCs or cASC-EVs on DNCB-induced AD in mice, before using for canine AD. Interestingly, we found that cASCs and cASC-EVs improved AD-like dermatitis, and markedly decreased levels of serum IgE, (49.6%, p = 0.002 and 32.1%, p = 0.016 respectively) epidermal inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, such as IL-4 (32%, p = 0.197 and 44%, p = 0.094 respectively), IL-13 (47.4%, p = 0.163, and 50.0%, p = 0.039 respectively), IL-31 (64.3%, p = 0.030 and 76.2%, p = 0.016 respectively), RANTES (66.7%, p = 0.002 and 55.6%, p = 0.007) and TARC (64%, p = 0.016 and 86%, p = 0.010 respectively). In addition, cASCs or cASC-EVs promoted skin barrier repair by restoring transepidermal water loss, enhancing stratum corneum hydration and upregulating the expression levels of epidermal differentiation proteins. Moreover, cASCs or cASC-EVs reduced IL-31/TRPA1-mediated pruritus and activation of JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Taken together, these results suggest the potential of cASCs or cASC-EVs for the treatment of chronic inflammation and damaged skin barrier in AD or canine AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]