Degree Of Skin Damage Research Articles

Demodecosis in domestic carnivores, incidence, predisposition, forms of disease manifestation

Work has been carried out to study the incidence of demodicosis in domestic cats and dogs in Novosibirsk. We collected data and examined the incidence of demodicosis in domestic carnivores, considering the year's season, the age of the animal, and the species. Demodicosis mainly occurs in dogs but very rarely in cats. Monitoring the occurrence of demodicosis of carnivores in the city of Novosibirsk over the past five years has shown the dynamics of the increase in the incidence of it in domestic cats and dogs. Data on the age-related predisposition of animals to acarosis indicate their more frequent occurrence in patients in the categories of up to 1 year and from 1 to 3 years, i.e., young animals. A study of the seasonal dynamics of the incidence of demodicosis in domestic carnivores showed that the peak incidence occurs in the autumn period of the year. This is due to a decrease in the immune resistance of the patient's body, weather factors (fluctuations in temperature, air humidity) and the previous period of high activity and contact between animals during the warm period of the year. In addition, we studied the occurrence of animals with various forms of the disease: scaly, pustular, papular, as well as local and generalised. We paid particular attention to the course of the disease, assessing the body's condition depending on the clinical form. Most patients were admitted for treatment to the clinic with the scaly form of demodicosis, while pustular and papular forms were observed much less frequently. Regarding the degree of skin damage, local demodicosis prevailed over the generalised form of the disease in dogs and cats. In dogs, the disease conditions were significantly different from those in cats. Based on statistical data, we can conclude that there is a greater variety of forms of demodicosis in dogs.

Comparison of Tumor Control and Skin Damage in a Mouse Model after Ultra-High Dose Rate Irradiation and Conventional Irradiation.

Recent studies suggest ultra-high dose rate radiation treatment (UHDR-RT) reduces normal tissue damage compared to conventional radiation treatment (CONV-RT) at the same dose. In this study, we compared first, the kinetics and degree of skin damage in wild-type C57BL/6 mice, and second, tumor treatment efficacy in GL261 and B16F10 dermal tumor models, at the same UHDR-RT and CONV-RT doses. Flank skin of wild-type mice received UHDR-RT or CONV-RT at 25 Gy and 30 Gy. Normal skin damage was tracked by clinical observation to determine the time to moist desquamation, an endpoint which was verified by histopathology. Tumors were inoculated on the right flank of the mice, then received UHDR-RT or CONV-RT at 1 × 11 Gy, 1 × 15, 1 × 25, 3 × 6 and 3 × 8 Gy, and time to tumor tripling volume was determined. Tumors also received 1 × 11, 1 × 15, 3 × 6 and 3 × 8 Gy doses for assessment of CD8+/CD4+ tumor infiltrate and genetic expression 96 h postirradiation. All irradiations of the mouse tumor or flank skin were performed with megavoltage electron beams (10 MeV, 270 Gy/s for UHDR-RT and 9 MeV, 0.12 Gy/s for CONV-RT) delivered via a clinical linear accelerator. Tumor control was statistically equal for similar doses of UHDR-RT and CONV-RT in B16F10 and GL261 murine tumors. There were variable qualitative differences in genetic expression of immune and cell damage-associated pathways between UHDR and CONV irradiated B16F10 tumors. Compared to CONV-RT, UHDR-RT resulted in an increased latent period to skin desquamation after a single 25 Gy dose (7 days longer). Time to moist skin desquamation did not significantly differ between UHDR-RT and CONV-RT after a 30 Gy dose. The histomorphological characteristics of skin damage were similar for UHDR-RT and CONV-RT. These studies demonstrated similar tumor control responses for equivalent single and fractionated radiation doses, with variable difference in expression of tumor progression and immune related gene pathways. There was a modest UHDR-RT skin sparing effect after a 1 × 25 Gy dose but not after a 1 × 30 Gy dose.

Perception Of Body Image And Health Control In Patients With Psoriasis: How It Is Related

Psoriasis is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory skin disease that causes rashes on the skin of the body, scalp and nails. People with psoriasis face a variety of psychosocial difficulties due to their illness. The quality of life in psoriasis deteriorates due to the perceived stigmatization in society that a person affected by the disease may experience. Rashes, dandruff is often considered subjectively the worst aspect of the disease, as visible skin lesions change patients' appearance and perception of body image. A person well-being and health-related behaviors are related to a person’s perception of their health locus of control. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived stigmatization, body image perception, and health locus of control in psoriasis patients. Participants filled the Feelings of Stigmatization Questionnaire, Dresden Body Image Questionnaire (DBIQ-NL) and the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC). The study involved adults with psoriasis (n = 111). The results showed that men with psoriasis have a more positive perception of the body, have perception that others were responsible for their health. The degree of skin damage in patients is directly related to perceived stigmatization. For psoriasis sufferers, the belief that control over their health is beyond their control acts as a mediator between perceived stigma and body acceptance.

An Antibody Persistent and Protective Two rSsCLP-Based Subunit Cocktail Vaccine against Sarcoptes scabiei in a Rabbit Model.

Scabies is a highly contagious disease caused by Sarcoptes scabiei which burrows into stratum corneum of host’s skin. In this study, after optimizing vaccination schedule, a vaccination trial is comprised of three test groups of rabbits (n = 10/group) by immunization with (1) rSsCLP5; (2) rSsCLP12; or (3) a mixture of rSsCLP5 and rSsCLP12, three biological replicates groups (n = 10/group) and three control groups (n = 10/group). Levels of specific IgG, total IgE and cytokines in sera were detected and histopathologically analyzed as indicators of vaccine effects. The results showed that 85% (17/20) of rabbits exhibited no detectable skin lesions of S. scabiei infestation in mixed protein groups compared to single protein groups with 75% (15/20) and 70% (14/20), respectively. Moreover, the deworming rates of mixed groups are increased by 10%–20% compared with that of single groups. Each of six groups immunized with rSsCLP displayed significant increases of specific IgG, total IgE, IL-10, and TNF-α. The degree of skin damage in test groups also significantly lower than that of control groups. Thus, purified rSsCLP5 and rSsCLP12 subunit cocktail vaccine induced robust immune protection and could significantly decrease mite populations to reduce the direct transmission between rabbits.

Altered serum cytokine expression profile in systemic sclerosis and its regulatory mechanisms

To analyze the expression profile of serum cytokines in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and explore its possible regulatory mechanisms. Serum and DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 30 SSc patients and 80 normal controls (NCs). According to the presence or absence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in SSc, the patients were divided into SSc with ILD group and SSc without ILD group. According to the degree of skin involvement, the patients were divided into diffuse systemic scleroderma (dcSSc) group and limited systemic scleroderma (lcSSc) group. According to the presence of anti-topoisomerase-1 antibody (anti-Scl-70 antibody) in the serum of patients with SSc, they were divided into SSc Scl-70 (+) group and SSc Scl-70 (-) group. 27 cytokines in serum were detected by Luminex MAGPIX detection system and Bio-Plex Pro Human Cytokine 27-plex Assay kit: interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12P70, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, basic fiber growth factor (BASIC FGF), eotaxin, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interferon-gamma induced protein 10(IP-10), monocyte chemotactic protein 1(MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), macrophage inflammatory protein 1β(MIP-1β), platelet-derived growth factor BB (PDGF-BB), regulated on activation in normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF). Methylation sites were detected by Illumina 450K methylation chip. Compared with NCs group, the expression of 12 cytokines (BASIC FGF, eotaxin, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-1ra, IL-6, IP-10, MCP-1, TNF-α and RANTES) in the SSc group significantly increased (P<0.05), IL-5 was decreased expression in the SSc group (P<0.05), there was no significant difference in the expressions of the other 14 cytokines. Compared with lcSSc group, 9 cytokines (eotaxin, IL-5, MCP-1, IL-2, RANTES, IL17A, IL-8, MIP-1β and PDGF-BB) increased in dcSSc group, but there was no significant difference. Compared with SSc without ILD group, IL-15 increased in SSC with ILD group [18.2 (172.97) ng/L vs. 2.03(0.05) ng/L, P<0.05]. Compared with SSc Scl-70 (-) group, the expression of IP-10 decreased in SSc Scl-70 (+) group [1 030 (2 196.6) ng/L vs. 1 878 (2 964) ng/L, P<0.05]. The correlation analysis of serum cytokines with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) showed that IL-6 was positively correlated with ESR (r =0.04, P= 0.017), MCP-1 (r=0.49, P=0.043) and MIP-1β (r=0.41, P=0.007) positively correlated with CRP. By analyzing the changes of methylation sites of cytokines, it was found that cg17744604 in IL-10 TSS1500 region, cg06111286 in IL-12P70 TSS200 region, cg07935264 in IL-1β TSS200 region, cg01467417 in IL-1ra TSS1500 region, cg03989987 in IL-1ra 5'UTR region and cg21099624 in VEGF TSS200 region were all hypomethylated. There were different cytokines expression profiles in the serum of SSc patients, and the altered cytokines were correlected with the degree of skin damage and pulmonary fibrosis. Many cytokines were regulated by methylation.

Photoaging Photography

One of the major sources for children to gain knowledge of skin-protective measures is from their parents. Therefore, an imperative exists for parents to model and reinforce the sun-safety practices they want their children to adopt. Although Australian mothers have been the recipients of two extensive sun-safety public health campaigns, little is known about their attitudes, behaviors, and application of health promotion knowledge toward their and their child’s ultraviolet (UV) sun exposure. Ten mothers with children aged 4 to 12 years were asked a series of questions about their sun-safety practices, both pre- and post-viewing an UV photoaged photograph of their and their child’s face. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis identified four themes and 12 subthemes. The findings reveal that mothers expressed divergent views on skin protection pre- and post-inspecting their and their child’s photoaged photographs. At one end of the viewing spectrum, mothers expressed an opinion that some degree of skin damage was an inevitable reality in Australia’s sunny climate, and on the other end of the viewing spectrum mothers expressed their desire to keep themselves and their child out of the sun. Mothers in the mid-range of the spectrum stated that their parenting task was one of transferring the responsibility for adopting skin-protective measures from themselves to their preteen children. The combination of mothers viewing their own photos as well as their child’s photograph serves to enhance the difference seen in photoaging damage, which in turn provides greater impetus for mothers to be concerned about photoaging in general.

Development of a Questionnaire to Evaluate Coping Strategies for Skin Problems

The aim of this work was to develop an instrument (Coping Strategies for Skin Problems Questionnaire) suitable for identifying the coping strategies people use for general skin problems. We analyzed its psychometric properties when applied to a sample of 299 individuals. Factor analysis shows a 6-factor structure referring to the wish to change, problem-solving strategies, the search for information and asking for social support, the ability to distance oneself from the problem and to see the positive aspects of the situation. These factors explain 60.77% of the variance and show an internal consistency higher than 0.67. We analyse the validity of the questionnaire and identify different coping profiles depending on the degree of skin damage as assessed by the participants and their search for health services. According to the psychometric properties obtained, we conclude that our instrument is valid and reliable for use with people presenting skin problems.

Treating nailbiting: A comparative analysis of mild aversion and competing response therapies

This study compared two methods of treating nail-biting. One method involved the use of a mild aversive stimulus in which subjects painted a bitter subtance on their nails, and the other required the subject to perform a competing response whenever they had the urge to bite or found themselves biting their nails. Both methods included self-monitoring of the behaviour, and a third group of subjects performed self-monitoring alone as a control condition. The study lasted four weeks. Twenty-one subjects, seven per group, participated.Both methods resulted in significant improvements in nail length, with the competing response method showing the most beneficial effect. There was no significant improvement for the control group. The competing response condition also yielded significant improvements along other dimensions such as degree of skin damage and subjects own ratings of their control over their habit. These were not seen for the other two conditions. The benefits of this abridged version of Azrin and Nunn's (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 11, 619–628, 1973) habit reversal method in terms of treatment success, use of therapist time and client satisfaction, are discussed.