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Byline: Fei. Li, Yongpin. Dong, Chunya. Ni, Haidong. Kan, Shuxian. Yan Aim: Common indoor pollutants, as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), can damage people's health and cause skin allergies. However, it [...]

Two large-scale outbreaks of streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome (STSLS) have revealed Streptococcus suis 2 to be a severe and evolving human pathogen. We investigated the mechanism by which S. suis 2 causes STSLS. The transcript abundance of the transcriptional regulator gene tstS was found to be upregulated during experimental infection. Compared with the wild-type 05ZY strain, a tstS deletion mutant (ΔtstS) elicited reduced cytokine secretion in macrophages. In a murine infection model, tstS deletion resulted in decreased virulence and bacterial load, and affected cytokine production. Moreover, TstS expression in the P1/7 strain of S. suis led to the induction of STSLS in the infected mice. This is noteworthy because, although it is virulent, the P1/7 strain does not normally induce STSLS. Through a microarray-based comparative transcriptomics analysis, we found that TstS regulates multiple metabolism-related genes and several virulence-related genes associated with immune evasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a noninvasive technique for evaluating cutaneous lesions with cellular level resolution close to conventional histopathology. The aim of this study is to observe the vascular changes in Port-wine (PWS) lesions and assess the clinical efficacy of Pulsed Dye Laser (PDL) treatment by examining vessel diameter and density with RCM. Materials and methods: Eleven adult patients with PWS, each had four test patches carried out with different pulse durations (1.5, 3, 6, and 10 ms), respectively; fluences of 9-12 J/cm2; and a spot size of 7 mm. The PDL treatment was repeated 3-5 times at a 2-month interval. Photographs and measurements with RCM were taken before each treatment and 2 months after the last treatment. Results: The PDL treatment exhibited increasing clearance with reducing pulse durations. Vessel diameters and densities were significantly decreased in the same pulse-duration groups after treatment. There was significant difference between 1.5 ms pulse-duration group and other pulse-duration groups in reducing blood vessel diameter at the depth of 150 μm. Conclusions: RCM can be used to assess the clinical efficacy of PDL treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fractional ablative CO2 laser therapy is based on the theory of fractional photothermolysis. It can be effective in treating acne scars in a less invasive fashion than conventional ablative CO2 laser therapy. Objective: In this clinical study, the safety and efficacy of a novel CO2 fractional ablative laser was investigated for the treatment of facial atrophic acne scarring in Chinese individuals. Materials and methods: A total of 31 patients (11 females, 20 males, Fitzpatrick skin phototypes III-IV) with facial acne scarring received three sequential fractional treatments over a 6-month period. Outcome measurements included blinded evaluations of before and after photographs by two physicians at 3 and 12 months after the final treatment. Global improvement was noted as well as any untoward events. Results: At the 12 months follow-up time period, 12.9% of the patients showed excellent improvement in their acne scars, while 38.71% noted good to fair results. The clinical response at the 12-month follow-up visit tended to be better than at the 3-month follow-up visit, but was not statistically significant. Four patients experienced post-treatment and transient PIH but three patients were noted to have prolonged erythema. There was no evidence hypopigmentation or worsening of the scarring in any of the study patients. Conclusion: This high-energy pulsed and cool-scanned fractional ablative CO2 laser system is safe and effective for facial atrophic acne scarring. Improvement in scarring was noted in the majority of patients with minimal discomfort and minimal downtime. Continued improvement over time is also an important clinical finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been suggested that the adjunctive use of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) with intense pulsed light (IPL), known as ALA-IPL photodynamic therapy (PDT), increases the benefits of IPL therapy for photoaging. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ALA-IPL PDT for photoaging in Chinese subjects with Fitzpatrick skin types III and IV. This was a prospective, controlled, split-face study with 26 subjects. Subjects received three split-face treatments 4 weeks apart. A blinded investigator assessed the signs of photodamage. Satisfaction was also assessed. Twenty-four subjects completed the trial. Better results were achieved for global score, fine lines, and coarse wrinkles on the PDT/IPL treated side than on the IPL-only side at the final visit (50% vs 12.5% p=.005 for global score, 70.8% vs 33.3% p=.009 for fine lines, 50% vs. 12.5%, p=.005 for coarse wrinkles). Phototoxic reactions such as erythema and edema were the primary side effects, as well as an increase in postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. ALA-IPL PDT has superior rejuvenation effects over IPL alone in Chinese subjects. Taking reasonable precaution to prevent the postinflammatory hyperpigmentation is the most important point in making ALA-IPL PDT a successful therapy. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study was conducted to observe the effects of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) on human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) cells. The potential mechanism linking PM 2.5 and skin was explored. HaCaT cells were cultured and then accessed in plate with PM 2.5 . Cell viability was tested by Cell Counting Kit-8. The mRNA and protein expression of Filaggrin, Loricrin, Involucrin, and Repetin were analyzed. The levels of Granulocyte-macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor, Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, Interleukin-1α, and Interleukin-8 were detected in the supernatant of the HaCaT cell with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Cell viability decreased with the increase in PM 2.5 . Compared with the control group, the protein expression of Filaggrin, Repetin, Involucrin, and Loricrin showed different expression patterns in PM 2.5 treatment groups. The level of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin, Interleukin-1α, and Interleukin-8 significantly increased in the cells treated with PM 2.5 . Ambient PM 2.5 may increase the risk of eczema and other skin diseases. The relative mechanism may be associated with the impairment of the skin barrier and the elevation of inflammatory responses., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.