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Background: Phakomatosis pigmentovascularis (PPV) is a rare congenital syndrome. Only a few studies have reported the treatment of PPV, including a case using photodynamic therapy (PDT) to treat PPV‐associated port‐wine stains (PWS). Objective: To investigating the efficacy and adverse effects of hemoporfin‐PDT in PPV‐associated PWS. Methods: The efficacy and adverse effects in patients with PPV who underwent two sessions of hemoporfin‐PDT from January 2019 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Twenty patients were included (13 females, 7 males, age range: 2–31 years; mean: 8.20 ± 8.92 years). Two, nine, seven, and two patients had PPV types Ia, IIa, IIb, and IIIa, respectively. After two treatments, the visual evaluation indicated the color of the PWS in 4, 5, 6, and 5 patients showed poor, fair, good, and excellent improvements, respectively. The combined good and excellent improvement rates in patients with PWS and pigmentary nevus overlapping in the same treatment area and in patients with PWS in the treatment areas only were 33.3% versus 87.5%, respectively, and were significantly different (p = 0.02). Minor side effects, such as edema, scabbing, hyperpigmentation, and blistering, were observed in some patients after PDT. Conclusion: Hemoporfin‐PDT is an effective treatment for PPV‐associated PWS. Patients with PWS and pigmentary nevus overlapping in the same treatment area showed poorer efficacy than patients with PWS in the treatment areas only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Baricitinib is a small‐molecular drug that selectively inhibits the Janus Kinase (JAK) 1 and 2. However, it showed various efficiency and safety in treating moderate‐to‐severe alopecia areata (AA). This study was to describe the real‐world effectiveness of baricitinib in treating moderate‐to‐severe refractory AA. Methods: Patients who were affected by moderate‐to‐severe AA and reported no shrinkage in the alopecia area after 6 months of conventional treatment were enrolled in the retrospective study. The patients were treated with baricitinib orally for at least 24 weeks. The severity of alopecia was evaluated at the end of 4, 12, and 24 weeks of treatment. Results: The 32 patients included 23 females and nine males, with a median duration of AA of 14.5 months. Among them, 28 patients received baricitinib 2 mg per day for 24 weeks while the other four patients increased the daily dose from 2 to 4 mg after the first 12 weeks due to the unobvious hair restoration. SALT value showed a significant decrease from baseline at week 12 and 24 (64.45 [44.68–100.00] vs. 26.80 [13.40–62.32], p < 0.0001 and 64.45 [44.68–100] vs. 9.40 [4.85–34.95], p < 0.0001). After 24 weeks of treatment, 50% of patients had an improvement of ≥2 points in IGA scores from the baseline, and IGA scores of 68.75% of patients were less than 2. Conclusion: This 24‐week research showed that baricitinib had favorable clinical efficacy and safety in treating moderate‐to‐severe AA, which is worthy of attention and expectation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate whether increased levels of lipids-related metabolites (LRMs) result in androgenic alopecia (AGA). Patients and Methods: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was designed, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) respectively related to nine LRMs were selected from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) dataset. An MR analysis was performed to assess the causal association between LRMs and AGA. Results: Through the fixed-effect inverse variance weighting (IVW) method, MR analysis indicated that Apolipoprotein B (ApoB), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) had a causal relationship with AGA. No obvious heterogeneity or pleiotropy was observed. Conclusion: The risk of AGA increases significantly when the serum levels of ApoB, LDL, and VLDL increase. This causal relationship is solid and free of interference from confounding factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hair diseases may present with hair loss, hirsutism, hair melanin abnormalities and other manifestations. Hair follicles are known as mini‐organs that undergo periodic remodeling, and their constant regeneration in vivo reflects interesting anti‐aging functions. Telomerase prevents cellular senescence by maintaining telomere length, but its excessive proliferation in cancer cells may also induce cancer. However, the effects of telomerase in hair growth have rarely been reported. Methods: In this study, we reviewed the role of telomerase in hair growth and the effects of hair disorders through literature search and analysis. Results: There is growing evidence that telomerase plays an important role in maintaining hair follicle function and proliferation. Changes in telomerase levels in hair follicles have also been found in a variety of hair disorders. Conclusion: Telomerase plays a positive role in hair growth and is expected to become a new target for the treatment of alopecia or other hair diseases in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]