The Skin as a Mirror of Internal Disease: Comorbidities and Epidemiology of Acne Vulgaris and Adult Female Acne – A Cross-sectional Study and Current State of Knowledge

Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition affecting an increasing number of adults and might be a clue to identifying systemic disease. Objective of this study is assessment of the demographic and clinical characteristic, including comorbidities, of patients with acne with a special focus on adult female acne (AFA). This cross-sectional study analyzed the medical records of 354 patients with acne (323 outpatients and 31 hospitalized). Data concerning patient age, sex, lesions morphology and distribution on body areas, duration of the disease, Body Mass Index, and dermatologic and systemic comorbidities were collected. 61% of all patients were female, 45.37% of women were classified as AFA. The median age of patients with acne was 24 years and 32.5 years for AFA. The face was the most commonly affected area; patients with AFA had lesions on their back than less frequently non-AFA. Predominant eruptions were pustules and papules. 38.7% of patients had concomitant systemic chronic disease, 15.25% had an endocrinologic disorder, and 6.21% had thyroid gland dysfunction. Women with AFA had endocrinologic disorders more frequently (P=0.002), whereas cutaneous signs of hyperandrogenism were observed less frequently than in the non-AFA group (P=0.034). AFA possess distinct clinical features and it should raise suspicion towards possible underlying endocrinologic disturbance

Chemerin and the recruitment of NK cells to diseased skin

Natural killer (NK) cells play a major role in the initial control of many viral pathogens and in the rejection of tumors. Consistent with their roles as immune sentinels, NK cells are found in inflamed skin, including lichen planus, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) lesions. In oral lichen planus lesions, the recruitment as well as intradermal colocalization of NK cells and pDC (plasmacytoid dendritic cells) appear to be mediated by chemerin, a recently identified protein ligand for chemokine-like receptor 1 (CMKLR1), a chemoattractant receptor expressed by both cell types. Dendritic cells can regulate NK cell activity, and NK cells can regulate DC-mediated responses. Since chemerin was recently implicated in recruitment of pDC to psoriatic skin, in this work we determined whether chemerin facilitates interactions between NK and pDC in psoriatic plaques through controlling influx of NK cells to diseased skin. We demonstrate that circulating NK cells from normal donors as well as psoriasis and AD patients respond similarly in functional migration assays to chemerin. However, differences in the distribution of NK cells and pDC in skin lesions suggest that recruitment of both NK cells and pDC is unlikely to be controlled solely by chemerin

Radio Galaxy Zoo: The Distortion of Radio Galaxies by Galaxy Clusters

We study the impact of cluster environment on the morphology of a sample of 4304 extended radio galaxies from Radio Galaxy Zoo. A total of 87% of the sample lies within a projected 15 Mpc of an optically identified cluster. Brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) are more likely than other cluster members to be radio sources, and are also moderately bent. The surface density as a function of separation from cluster center of non-BCG radio galaxies follows a power law with index $-1.10\pm 0.03$ out to $10~r_{500}$ ($\sim 7~$Mpc), which is steeper than the corresponding distribution for optically selected galaxies. Non-BCG radio galaxies are statistically more bent the closer they are to the cluster center. Within the inner $1.5~r_{500}$ ($\sim 1~$Mpc) of a cluster, non-BCG radio galaxies are statistically more bent in high-mass clusters than in low-mass clusters. Together, we find that non-BCG sources are statistically more bent in environments that exert greater ram pressure. We use the orientation of bent radio galaxies as an indicator of galaxy orbits and find that they are preferentially in radial orbits. Away from clusters, there is a large population of bent radio galaxies, limiting their use as cluster locators; however, they are still located within statistically overdense regions. We investigate the asymmetry in the tail length of sources that have their tails aligned along the radius vector from the cluster center, and find that the length of the inward-pointing tail is weakly suppressed for sources close to the center of the cluster.Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables. Supplemental data files available in The Astronomical Journal or contact autho

Searching for the signatures of jet-ISM interactions in X-ray binaries

Jets from X-ray binaries are continuously injecting matter and energy into the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM). However, there exist to date relatively few cases where jet-ISM interactions have been directly observed. We review the current examples, and go on to present new data on the proposed hotspots of GRS1915+105, finding no concrete evidence for any association between the hotspots and the central source, in agreement with previous findings in the literature. We also present preliminary results on radio and H-alpha searches for jet-ISM interactions around known X-ray binaries, and discuss strategies for future searches.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures; to be published in proceedings of "A Population Explosion: The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments", 28 Oct. - 2 Nov. 2007, St. Petersburg Beach, FL (R.M. Bandyopadhyay, S. Wachter, D. Gelino, & C.R. Gelino, eds.

Th1 and Th2 types cytokine production by the activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCsPBMC_{s}) from atopic dermatitis patients : relationship to the clinical parameters and Staphylococcus aureus skin colonization

Recent studies have shown that local up-regulation of Th2 cytokines and handicap of $IFN-\gamma$ and $TNF-\alpha$ production under inflammatory conditions increase susceptibility of AD skin to microorganism. The aim of this study was to determine whether different density of S. aureus colonizing two different sites (lesional and non-lesional skin areas), and clinical condition of AD patients have any impact on Th1 and Th2 cytokine profiles. Cell culture supernatants of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from AD patients and control group were collected following SEB stimulation. The number of bacteria was determined by colony forming unit method. $IFN-\gamma$, $TNF-\alpha$, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 was evaluated using specific ELISA and Human Th1/Th2 Cytokine Cytometric Bead Array. The patients were characterized by age, sex, severity scoring of AD, and serum eosinophil cationic protein. Twenty three (62.2%) among 37 of AD patients were positive for S. aureus cultured from both sites of the skin. SEB-stimulated $PBMC_{s}$ from patients with high density of S. aureus on involved (log>7.14) and uninvolved (log>5.48) skin had significantly reduced amount of $IFN-\gamma$ and $TNF-\alpha$ production than normal non-AD individuals (P<0.001 and P<0.05, respectively). Although the production of $IFN-\gamma$ and $TNF-\alpha$ by AD patients was significantly lower than healthy controls, the production of IL-4 and IL-5 was not increased in SEB-stimulated cultures. The severity scores, but not the density of S. aureus, negatively correlated to $IFN-\gamma$ production (P<0.01). S. aureus skin colonization in AD patients although correlated to the severity of symptoms have an impact on patient's T-cell responsiveness to SEB

The XXL Survey. XXXVI. Evolution and black hole feedback of high-excitation and low-excitation radio galaxies in XXL-S

The evolution of the comoving kinetic luminosity densities (Ωkin) of the radio loud high-excitation radio galaxies (RL HERGs) and the low-excitation radio galaxies (LERGs) in the ultimate XMM extragalactic survey south (XXL-S) field is presented. The wide area and deep radio and optical data of XXL-S have allowed the construction of the radio luminosity functions (RLFs) of the RL HERGs and LERGs across a wide range in radio luminosity out to high redshift (z = 1.3). The LERG RLFs display weak evolution: Φ(z)∝(1 + z)0.67 ± 0.17 in the pure density evolution (PDE) case and Φ(z)∝(1 + z)0.84 ± 0.31 in the pure luminosity evolution (PLE) case. The RL HERG RLFs demonstrate stronger evolution than the LERGs: Φ(z)∝(1 + z)1.81 ± 0.15 for PDE and Φ(z)∝(1 + z)3.19 ± 0.29 for PLE. Using a scaling relation to convert the 1.4 GHz radio luminosities into kinetic luminosities, the evolution of Ωkin was calculated for the RL HERGs and LERGs and compared to the predictions from various simulations. The prediction for the evolution of radio mode feedback in the Semi-Analytic Galaxy Evolution (SAGE) model is consistent with the Ωkin evolution for all XXL-S RL AGN (all RL HERGs and LERGs), indicating that the kinetic luminosities of RL AGN may be able to balance the radiative cooling of the hot phase of the IGM. Simulations that predict the Ωkin evolution of LERG equivalent populations show similar slopes to the XXL-S LERG evolution, suggesting that observations of LERGs are well described by models of SMBHs that slowly accrete hot gas. On the other hand, models of RL HERG equivalent populations differ in their predictions. While LERGs dominate the kinetic luminosity output of RL AGN at all redshifts, the evolution of the RL HERGs in XXL-S is weaker compared to what other studies have found. This implies that radio mode feedback from RL HERGs is more prominent at lower redshifts than was previously thought

Ocena wpływu zabiegów krioterapii ogólnoustrojowej na wybrane wskaźniki skóry pacjenta z atopowym zapaleniem skóry (AZS)

Case report: The case report regards a 33-year-old male patient living in a big city. The patient has been suffering from atopic dermatitis since infancy.  Results: SCORAD index evaluating the AD intensity level changed after 15 whole-body cryotherapy sessions. Before the treatments, the patient achieved 42.9 points on the above-mentioned scale. After the 15th treatment the sum of points amounted to 36.8, and after 3 weeks since the therapy was discontinued — 33.9 points.  Changes in the level of hydration of both healthy skin and skin with AD symptoms were also observed.  Conclusion: Due to these properties, the hypothesis has been put forward that systemic cryotherapy can be a complementary method in the treatment of AD.Opis przypadku: Opis przypadku dotyczy 33-letniego pacjenta mieszkającego w dużym mieście. Pacjent od niemowlęctwa cierpi na AZS. Badany uczestniczył w 15 zabiegach krioterapii ogólnoustrojowej.  Wyniki: Wskaźnik SCORAD oceniający poziom nasilenia AZS zmienił się po zakończeniu badań. Pacjent przed zabiegami uzyskał 42,9 punktu w powyższej skali. Po 15. zabiegu suma punktów wyniosła 36,8, a po 3 tygodniach od zakończenia terapii — 33,9. Zaobserwowano również zmiany w poziomie nawilżenia naskórka zarówno skóry zdrowej, jak i skóry z objawami AZS.  Wniosek: Ze względu na uzyskane wyniki postawiono hipotezę, że krioterapia ogólnoustrojowa może być metodą uzupełniającą leczenie w terapii AZS.