Oxygenated-Blood Colour Change Thresholds for Perceived Facial Redness, Health, and Attractiveness

Blood oxygenation level is associated with cardiovascular fitness, and raising oxygenated blood colouration in human faces increases perceived health. The current study used a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) psychophysics design to quantify the oxygenated blood colour (redness) change threshold required to affect perception of facial colour, health and attractiveness. Detection thresholds for colour judgments were lower than those for health and attractiveness, which did not differ. The results suggest redness preferences do not reflect a sensory bias, rather preferences may be based on accurate indications of health status. Furthermore, results suggest perceived health and attractiveness may be perceptually equivalent when they are assessed based on facial redness. Appearance-based motivation for lifestyle change can be effective; thus future studies could assess the degree to which cardiovascular fitness increases face redness and could quantify changes in aerobic exercise needed to increase facial attractiveness

A Plea to Bridge the Gap between Antifungals and the Management of Onychomycosis

Onychomycosis represents a stubborn problem for the clinician facing up to the realities of antifungal treatments. There are obvious discrepancies between data given by in vitro antifungal testings, pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and those gathered from clinical experience. This critical review is an attempt at bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo information about oral antifungals that aim to treat onychomycoses. Common sense shows that the in vitro concept of fungicidy cannot be simply extrapolated into clinical practice. Indeed, chlamidoconidia and arthroconidia present in vivo are much more resistant to antifungals than hyphae. Corneofungimetry may be a realistic bioassay in predicting antifungal activity in human infections. Boosting hyphae growth from conidia while taking antifungals is a new and appealing treatment modality that deserves controlled study

Classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Caused by a Mutation in Type I Collagen

Classical Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is characterized by skin hyperelasticity, joint hypermobility, increased tendency to bruise, and abnormal scarring. Mutations in type V collagen, a regulator of type I collagen fibrillogenesis, have been shown to underlie this type of EDS. However, to date, mutations have been found in only a limited number of patients, which suggests genetic heterogeneity. In this article, we report two unrelated patients with typical features of classical EDS, including excessive skin fragility, in whom we found an identical arginine→cysteine substitution in type I collagen, localized at position 134 of the α1(I) collagen chain. The arginine residue is highly conserved and localized in the X position of the Gly-X-Y triplet. As a consequence, intermolecular disulfide bridges are formed, resulting in type I collagen aggregates, which are retained in the cells. Whereas substitutions of glycine residues in type I collagen invariably result in osteogenesis imperfecta, substitutions of nonglycine residues in type I collagen have not yet been associated with a human disease. In contrast, arginine→cysteine substitutions in type II collagen have been identified in a variety of chondrodysplasias. Our findings show that mutations in other fibrillar collagens can be causally involved in classical EDS and point to genetic heterogeneity of this disorder

Deep Infection by Trichophyton rubrum in an Immunocompromised Patient

Dermatophytes are common pathogens of skin but rarely cause invasive disease. We present a case of deep infection by Trichophyton rubrum in an immunocompromised patient. T. rubrum was identified by morphological characteristics and confirmed by PCR. Invasiveness was apparent by histopathology and immunohistochemistry. The patient was treated successfully with itraconazole

Skin manifestations of Bartonella infections

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