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Polyopes affinis is a red algal species commonly found on the South coast and near Jeju Island, Korea. This study aimed to determine whether P. affinis extracts can inhibit the pathogenesis of T-helper-2 (Th2)-mediated inflammation in a human keratinocyte cell line of atopic dermatitis (AD). Cells were incubated with 10 ng/mL of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and 10 ng/mL of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) at various concentrations of PAB (10, 30, and 60 µg/mL) and PAA (100, 500, and 1000 µg/mL) extracts. A gene-ontology (GO)-enrichment analysis revealed that PAB significantly enriched the genes associated with biological processes such as cell adhesion, immune response, inflammation, and chemokine-mediated pathways. PAB suppressed the expression of the secretory proteins and mRNAs that are associated with the thymus and the production of activation-regulated chemokines (TARC/CCL17) and macrophage-derived chemokines (MDC/CCL22). The effect of the extract on mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) was related to its inhibition of TARC/CCL17 and MDC/CCL22 production by blocking NF-κB and STAT1 activation. These results suggest that seaweed extract may improve AD by regulating pro-inflammatory chemokines. In conclusion, we first confirmed the existence of phloroglucinol, a polyphenol formed from a precursor called phlorotannin, which is present in PAB, and this result proved the possibility of PAB being used as a treatment for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of solid and liquid particles suspended in air, which originates from industrial plants or vehicle emissions. Although the skin is the primary body area of contact with air pollutants, the associations between PM and chronic inflammatory skin diseases has not been well established. Aim: To investigate associations between PM and atopic dermatitis (AD) and between PM and other chronic inflammatory dermatoses, using data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Methods: Monthly disease statistics from the seven largest cities in South Korea (Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan) and from Jeju Island (in total, a population of 23 288 000 for all eight areas) were included. Based on daily air pollution level and weather forecast from 2015 to 2019, multivariate negative binomial regression analysis was conducted to estimate monthly visits of AD with respect to outdoor air pollutants: coarse PM with a diameter of ≤ 10 μm (PM10) and fine PM with a diameter of ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Results: Increases in the levels of PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and CO were associated with significant increases in monthly patient visits for AD. Every 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 and PM10 resulted in patient visit increases of 2.71% (95% CI 0.76–4.71; P < 0.01) and 2.01% (95% CI 0.92–3.11, P < 0.001), respectively, while every 1 part per billion (ppb) increase in SO2 and every 100 ppb increase in CO resulted in visit increases of 2.26% (95% CI 1.35–3.17; P < 0.001) and 2.86% (95% CI 1.35–4.40; P < 0.001), respectively. O3 and NO2 were not associated with increased patient visits for AD. Increases in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were also significantly associated with increases in patient visits for psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis and rosacea. Conclusion: Our data suggest that PM is associated with AD and other chronic inflammatory skin diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author focuses on a study conducted on children between the ages of zero to six years for seeing the prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in South Korea. The questionnaire method was used for the collection of data during the study. According to the results, 96.2 percent were found having mild dermatitis in Seoul, Korea and in Jeju Island, Korea, an important result was found that the number of girls suffering from AD was more than the boys suffering from AD.