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Atopic dermatitis (AD) is the most common inflammatory skin disease and dupilumab is US Food and Drug Administration-approved in both adult and pediatric AD patients.
Learn More >Conventional treatment techniques have limited efficacy and more side effects in the treatment of prurigo nodularis. The better alternative treatment option for better outcomes of the disease is dupilumab.
Learn More >To determine the effectiveness of two online behavioural interventions, one for parents and carers and one for young people, to support eczema self-management.
Learn More >Few therapeutic options are available for patients with moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa. We aimed to assess the efficacy of secukinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa in two randomised trials.
Learn More >Gastrin releasing peptide receptor (GRPR), a member of the bombesin (BBN) G protein-coupled receptors, is aberrantly overexpressed in several malignant tumors, including those of the breast, prostate, pancreas, lung, and […]
Learn More >Itch is a complex and unpleasant sensory experience. Recent studies have begun to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the modulation of sensory and emotional components of itch in the brain. However, the key brain regions and neural mechanism involved in modulating the attentional processing of itch remain elusive. Here, we showed that the prelimbic cortex (PrL) is associated with itch processing and that the manipulation of itch-responsive neurons in the PrL significantly disrupted itch-induced scratching. Interestingly, we found that increasing attentional bias toward a distracting stimulus could disturb itch processing. We also demonstrated the existence of a population of attention-related neurons in the PrL that drive attentional bias to regulate itch processing. Importantly, itch-responsive neurons and attention-related neurons significantly overlapped in the PrL and were mutually interchangeable in the regulation of itch processing at the cellular activity level. Our results revealed that the PrL regulates itch processing by controlling attentional bias.
Learn More >Background Intralesional corticosteroid administration (ICA) is a first-line treatment for keloids. However, its clinical results are still highly variable and often suboptimal. Treatment results may strongly be influenced by various operator dependent factors. The aim of this study is to map the details of ICA in keloids described in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), hence presenting the scientific practice of a first-line treatment for keloids in the best available evidence. Summary A systematic search was performed on PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE and CENTRAL. Eligible studies were RCTs including patients with keloids treated with intralesional corticosteroids. Treatment and study design related data were charted on a predefined form. Thirty-eight RCTs were included for data extraction. Triamcinolone acetonide was used in 37 (97.4%) studies. Dosing per cm2 could only be compared among ten (26%) studies, and varied from 1 to 20 mg. The maximum dose per session varied from 20 to 80 mg. Anesthetics were administered locally and orally in seven and one RCT(s). Treatment intervals varied from weekly to monthly, with four weeks most frequently (50%) used. Needle size was reported in eleven (29%) studies and varied from 26 to 30-gauge. Syringe size was specified in four (11%) studies, being 1 mL. The injection level was described in eleven (29%) studies. Blanching as endpoint was reported in ten (26%) studies. Outcome measures varied widely, from height, surface area or volume, to Vancouver Scar Scale, Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale, pain and itch scores, patient satisfaction and different efficacy rates. Only six studies had a follow-up of ≥6 months. Recurrence was identified in two studies with 18 weeks and 1 year of follow-up. Adverse events were reported in 25 (66%) studies. Key messages There is incomplete reporting and substantial heterogeneity in many aspects of ICA and study design among RCTs. This scoping review underscores the urgent need for standardization of treatment protocol and study design to enhance and uniform research conduct among keloid studies.
Learn More >Glial cells, which are the non-neuronal cells of the nervous system, play essential roles in brain development, homeostasis, and diseases. Glial cells have attracted attention because of their active involvement in many neurological disorders. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in our understanding of the roles of glial cells in the pathogenesis of itch. Mechanistically, central and peripheral glial cells modulate acute and chronic pruritus via different mechanisms. In this review, we present the current knowledge about the involvement of glial cells in the modulation of itch processing and the mechanism of glial cell activation under itch stimuli. Targeting glial cells may provide novel approaches for itch therapy.
Learn More >Despite the emergence of novel targeted treatments for atopic dermatitis (AD), there is a lack of guidelines on standardizing analysis of clinical trial data. To define and estimate meaningful treatment comparisons, several factors, including intercurrent events, must be taken into account. Intercurrent events are defined as events occurring after treatment initiation that affect either the interpretation or existence of the measurements associated with clinical questions of interest. Due to the relapsing, unpredictable nature of AD, intercurrent events frequently occur in AD trials, such as use of rescue therapy for intense itch and sleep deprivation. Despite the impact of intercurrent events in AD, they are often handled in an inconsistent manner across trials, which limits results interpretation. The estimand framework is increasingly used to estimate treatment effects while accounting for intercurrent events. This review explores how guidance from the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) on the use of estimands can be applied to support AD clinical trial design and analysis. We propose that estimands are used in AD trials and defined early during trial design. The use of estimands can provide clinicians with interventional trial results that are more reflective of clinical practice, help facilitate comparisons across clinical trials, and are more informative to enable improved treatment selection for patients.
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How to get rid of itching.
Itch is an unpleasant sensation arising from a variety of dermatologic, neuropathic, systemic, and psychogenic etiologies. Various itch pathways are implicated according to the underlying etiology. A variety of pruritogens, […]
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