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Byline: Hanan. Assaf, Dina. Ahmed, Amr. Abdelhamed Background: Periorbital hyperpigmentation (POH) is a common skin condition that presents as infraorbital darkening. POH has a multifactorial etiology. Studies evaluating POH treatment [...]

Background: Melasma is a distressing disfiguring acquired pigmentary disorder especially affecting females and it is of high tendency of recurrence. Up till now, treatment of melasma is a challenging problem. Objectives: We evaluated the effectiveness of microneedling with glutathione versus microneedling alone in treatment of melasma. Patients and Methods: In this study, 29 adult females with epidermal type of melasma (confirmed with Wood's light examination) were enrolled. The affected area was subjected to microneedling using dermapen followed by application of glutathione solution on the right side only. This session was performed every 2 weeks for 3 months (six sessions for every patient). The response to therapy was measured using modified melasma area and severity index (m MASI) that were calculated on each side of the face (Hemi‐ m MASI) before treatment sessions. Results: There was statistically significant reduction in the mean of Hemi‐ m MASI score over the sessions on both sides of the face but the right side (microneedling with glutathione) showed more reduction and earlier response to therapy than the left side (microneedling alone). On the left side, mean of Hemi‐ m MASI score before and after sessions was (4.06 ± 1.91, 2.31 ± 1.450) and on the right side, it was (4.21 ± 2.08, 1.96 ± 1.30), respectively and this was statistically significant. Percentage of improvement on the left side was 46.92 ± 16.30 (%) while on the right side was 55.17 ± 15.50 (%) and this was statistically significant. Conclusions: Microneedling is an effective promising tool in treatment of melasma and its combination with glutathione as a whitening agent, increases and accelerates its efficacy. So, combined therapy is more preferred than monotherapy in treatment of facial melasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Amr. Abdelhamed, Soha. Aboeldahab, Mohammed. El-Hamd, Hanan. Assaf Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome (KTWS) is a rare congenital disorder characterized by asymmetric limb hypertrophy, usually of the lower limbs, as well as [...]

Background: Pemphigus is a series of autoimmune skin disorders caused by IgG. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a subset of CD4+ T cells that mostly block pathogenic immune responses mediated by self‐reactive cells; therefore, a lack of Tregs or a malfunction in their activity could lead to a loss of tolerance and the development of autoimmunity. Aims: To evaluate the expression of lesional and perilesional Treg markers (CD4+ CD25+ bright FOXP3+) in pemphigus patients. Patients and methods: Twenty‐three pemphigus patients and 20 healthy controls were included in this study. The expression of CD4, CD25, and Foxp3 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Results: There was statistically significant increase in CD4+ T lymphocytes in lesional skin of pemphigus compared to perilesional skin and control group (p‐value: 0.001). There was statistically significant decrease in CD25+ and Foxp3+ cells in lesional skin compared to perilesional and control group (p‐value: <0.001, 0.025, respectively). Conclusion: The reduction of lesional skin Tregs may play an important role in the pemphigus pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background/Objectives: Cutaneous warts (CW), or verrucae, are benign proliferation of skin that result from infection with human papilloma viruses. Cellular immune reactivity plays a significant role in wart regression. The aim of this study was to elucidate the cellular immune status of patients with CW through measurements of their serum levels of interleukin‐17 (IL‐17) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF,) and, identify the possible role of IL‐17 and MIF in CW. We assessed serum IL‐17 and MIF levels in patients with different forms of CW and compare the results with controls. Patient and methods: Serum levels of IL‐17 and MIF were measured using commercially available ELISA assay kits in 60 patients with CW and 20 healthy controls. Results: Serum levels of IL‐17 and MIF were significantly lower in patients with CW when compared with the controls (P‐value <.01, <.05, respectively). There was nonsignificant correlation between IL‐17 and MIF. Conclusion: Low IL‐17 and MIF levels may have a contributory role in occurrence, maintenance, severity, and recurrence of different types of CW which depend mainly on the defect of cell‐mediated immunity. This may shed new light on nontraditional strategies for the future medical treatments of CW through regulation of IL‐17 and MIF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]