The Microbiome - New Insights Into the Skin's Own Ecosystem

Peer reviewe

Age-dependent Distribution of Atopic Dermatitis in Primary Care : A Nationwide Population-based Study from Finland

The burden of atopic dermatitis (AD) appears to be increasing in adult and elderly patients. The aim of this study was to analyse the nationwide database of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare regarding the number of patients with AD and of general practitioner consultations in Finland during 2018. The database comprised the main diagnoses of all visits to public primary healthcare. There were 2,094,673 primary care patients (males/females 43.19/56.81%) and 20,905 patients with AD (1.00%) and 24,180 consultations due to AD (0.45%). The highest numbers of patients with AD were in the age groups 0-14 years (9,922 patients, 47.46%) and 15-65 years (9,144 patients, 43.74%). A substantial proportion of patients with AD were aged > 50 years (3,515 patients, 16.81%) or >65 years (1,947 patients, 9.31%). Regression analysis indicated a statistically significant association of age group with patient numbers (p = 0.032) and number of consultations (p = 0.030). There were no differences between direct age group comparisons (p = 0.303), sex (p = 0.389), or number of consultations/patient (p = 0.235). Patients with AD are prevalent in all age groups in Finnish primary care. Patient numbers were also relatively high in groups other than childhood, indicating that age-related distribution in primary care may be shifting to older ages.Peer reviewe

Chlamydiales Bacterial Sequences in Lesional and Healthy Skin of Patients with Parapsoriasis

Peer reviewe

CD8+T Cell Migration to the Skin Requires CD4+Help in a Murine Model of Contact Hypersensitivity

Peer reviewe

Integrative transcriptome analysis deciphers mechanisms of nickel contact dermatitis

Background Nickel-induced allergic contact dermatitis (nACD) remains a major occupational skin disorder, significantly impacting the quality of life of suffering patients. Complex cellular compositional changes and associated immunological pathways are partly resolved in humans; thus, the impact of nACD on human skin needs to be further elucidated. Methods To decipher involved immunological players and pathways, human skin biopsies were taken at 0, 2, 48, and 96 hours after nickel patch test in six nickel-allergic patients. Gene expression profiles were analyzed via microarray. Results Leukocyte deconvolution of nACD-affected skin identified major leukocyte compositional changes at 48 and 96 hours, including natural killer (NK) cells, macrophage polarization, and T-cell immunity. Gene set enrichment analysis mirrored cellular-linked functional pathways enriched over time. NK cell infiltration and cytotoxic pathways were uniquely found in nACD-affected skin compared to sodium lauryl sulfate-induced irritant skin reactions. Conclusion These results highlight key immunological leukocyte subsets as well as associated pathways in nACD, providing insights into pathophysiology with the potential to unravel novel therapeutic targets.Peer reviewe

Skin Microbiome in Small- and Large-plaque Parapsoriasis

Staphylococcal enterotoxins have been shown to promote lymphoma-associated immune dysregulation. This study examined changes in the skin microbiome of parapsoriasis compared with intact skin. Swab microbiome specimens were taken of the parapsoriasis lesions of 13 patients. Control samples were taken from contralateral healthy sides of the body. Micro-biotas were characterized by sequencing the V1-V3 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA bacterial genes on the Illumina MiSeq platform. The most common genera in the microbiome data were Propionibacterium (27.13%), Corynebacterium (21.20%) and Staphylococcus (4.63%). Out of the Staphylococcus sequences, 39.6% represented S. epidermidis, with the rest including S. hominis, S. capitis and unidentified species. No significant differences were observed between the patients' parapsoriasis and contralateral healthy skin or between large-and small-plaque parapsoriasis. Notable interpersonal variation was demonstrated. These results suggest that parapsoriasis is not associated with significant alterations in the cutaneous bacterial microbiome.Peer reviewe

INfORM : Inference of NetwOrk Response Modules

The Summary: Detecting and interpreting responsive modules from gene expression data by using network-based approaches is a common but laborious task. It often requires the application of several computational methods implemented in different software packages, forcing biologists to compile complex analytical pipelines. Here we introduce INfORM (Inference of NetwOrk Response Modules), an R shiny application that enables non-expert users to detect, evaluate and select gene modules with high statistical and biological significance. INfORM is a comprehensive tool for the identification of biologically meaningful response modules from consensus gene networks inferred by using multiple algorithms. It is accessible through an intuitive graphical user interface allowing for a level of abstraction from the computational steps.Peer reviewe

Young men with asthma : Prognosis and effect on work ability

Asthma is a significant growing health problem of the working-age population and may start already in childhood or early adulthood. Therefore, despite current treatment options, asthma can potentially affect work ability, and occupational exposure to dust gases and fumes can influence asthma prognosis. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of asthma on work ability and the effect of occupational exposure on current asthma status in approximately 40-year-old men with asthma since youth. The current goal to extend careers makes this study highly relevant. We found that both men with mild asthma and men with relatively severe asthma in youth had diminished self-reported work ability, and decreased work life participation, compared with men without asthma in youth. Among the asthmatics currently smoking, lower educational level, a blue-collar occupation and current severe asthma had the strongest associations with decreased work ability. Exposure to irritants, based on Job Exposure Matrix, and selfreported occupational exposure to abnormal temperatures also associated with poorer work ability. Occupational health care professionals should pay attention and support the work ability of those with asthma since youth. This joint work of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and the Finnish Defence Forces was founded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund