cigarette and acne

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hydrocarbons characterized by the presence of multiple benzene rings. They are ubiquitously found in the natural environment, especially in environmental pollutants, including atmospheric particulate matter, cigarette smoke, barbecue smoke, among others. PAHs can influence human health through several mechanisms, including the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) pathway, oxidative stress pathway, and epigenetic pathway. In recent years, the impact of PAHs on inflammatory skin diseases has garnered significant attention, yet many of their underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood...

This monthly article provides a collection of summaries of the most relevant studies identified as POEMs (patient-oriented evidence that matters) for Italian primary care physicians. 1) According to a high-quality network meta-analysis, oral isotretinoin is the most effective therapy for decreasing the number of inflammatory and non-inflammatory skin lesions in patients with acne vulgaris. 2) Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (Nsaid) use is associated with a small increase (0.004%) in the risk of venous thromboembolism...

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease, which affects both sexes. Objectives: Identification of sex-specific risk factors, comorbidity, clinical manifestations, and treatments in HS patients. Methods: A non-interventional, cross-sectional, mono-centric study with 500 HS patients. All patients were examined by dermatologists. Prospectively collected demographic, anamnestic, clinical data, and blood parameters were evaluated...

Cigarette smoke (CS) alters cutaneous biological processes such as redox homeostasis and inflammation response that might be involved in promoting skin inflammatory conditions. Exposure to CS has also been linked to a destabilization of the NLRP3 inflammasome in pollution target tissues such as the lung epithelium, resulting in a more vulnerable immunological response to several exogenous and endogenous stimuli related to oxidative stress. Thus, CS has an adverse effect on host defense, increasing the susceptibility to develop lung infections and pathologies...

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa is uncommon in patients of pediatric age, and differentiation with adult-onset disease is controversial. Treatment of pediatric hidradenitis suppurativa is scarcely standardized, and specific guidelines are lacking. OBJECTIVE: We report the clinical features, relevant risk-factors, comorbidity profile, and treatment patterns of a hospital-based cohort of pediatric hidradenitis suppurativa. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study data on patients' demographics, disease-specific characteristics, early/pre-pubertal onset of disease, comorbidities, and treatment management were retrieved...

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease primarily affecting apocrine gland-rich areas of the body and presenting with painful nodules, abscesses, sinus tracts, and scarring (1). HS is a defect of the follicular epithelium; some have therefore called for the naming the disease acne inversa instead of hidradenitis suppurativa. The term acne inversa links the pathogenesis to acne and reflects the fact that it is an expression of follicular occlusion in localizations inverse to acne vulgaris (2)...

Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a chronic inflammatory condition where crops of sterile pustules with erythematous keratotic lesions causing bleeding and pain appear on the palms and soles. Recently, the European Rare and Severe Expert Network considered PPP as a variant of pustular psoriasis with or without psoriasis vulgaris. The prevalence of PPP varies from 0.050 to 0.12%. PPP occurs more frequently in women and the highest prevalence occurred between the ages of 50 and 69 years. Nail psoriasis seems to be frequent in PPP, ranging from 30 to 76%, and psoriatic arthritis in 8...

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is recognized as the third most prevalent skin disease worldwide, with highest prevalence among adolescents. Beliefs and perceptions of adolescents about acne are incoherent in the literature. OBJECTIVES: To assess the most frequently reported acne-related beliefs in adolescents in order to focus on misconceptions and develop proper recommendations. METHODS: A cross-sectional community-based study on representative sample of 2516 schoolchildren was conducted in six randomly selected secondary schools in Belgrade, Serbia...

BACKGROUND: The association between Helicobacter pylori infection and advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN) remains controversial. This study aimed to clarify the association between H. pylori infection and ACN according to age groups. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the association between H. pylori infection and ACN in patients aged <50 and ≥50 years receiving a health checkup that included colonoscopy. Helicobacter pylori positivity was determined by the results of serum anti-H...

The microaerophylic organism Propionibacterium acnes has shown consistent association with prostate cancer (PC). Studies linking circumcision with reduced PC further support anaerobes involvement as circumcision reduces anaerobe colonisation on the glans penis. A 1988 study linked anaerobes with PC but considered them as opportunists in necrotic tumour. A hypothesis that a "Helicobacter-like" process causes PC justified this pilot study. Active surveillance patients were enrolled. Post-prostate massage urine samples were screened using the Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) technique for bacterial identification after culture in anaerobic and aerobic conditions...

The increase in air pollution over the years has had major effects on the human skin. Various air pollutants such as ultraviolet radiation, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, oxides, particulate matter, ozone and cigarette smoke affect the skin as it is the outermost barrier. Air pollutants damage the skin by inducing oxidative stress. Although human skin acts as a biological shield against pro-oxidative chemicals and physical air pollutants, prolonged or repetitive exposure to high levels of these pollutants may have profound negative effects on the skin...

For its critical location, the skin represents the major interface between the body and the environment, therefore is one of the major biological barriers against the outdoor environmental stressors. Among the several oxidative environmental stressors, cigarette smoke (CS) has been associated with the development and worsening of many skin pathologies such as acne, dermatitis, delayed wound healing, aging and skin cancer. In our previous work we have demonstrated that CS is able to affect genes involved in skin cholesterol trafficking, among which SRB1, a receptor involved in the uptake of cholesterol from HDL, seems to be very susceptible to the oxidative stress induced by CS...

Blood plasma is the most popularly used sample matrix for metabolite profiling studies, which aim to achieve global metabolite profiling and biomarker discovery. However, most of the current studies on plasma metabolite profiling focused on either the polar metabolites or lipids. In this study, a comprehensive analysis approach based on HILIC-FTMS was developed to concurrently examine polar metabolites and lipids. The HILIC-FTMS method was developed using mixed standards of polar metabolites and lipids, the separation efficiency of which is better in HILIC mode than in C5 and C18 reversed phase (RP) chromatography...

In this work, a simple and effective method based on magnetic solid-phase extraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for the determination of benzo[α]pyrene (BaP) in cigarette smoke. Oleic acid coated Fe3O4 (Fe3O4-OA) was synthesized and directly used as an efficient sorbent for the first time in magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) procedure for the clean-up of BaP in cigarette smoke extracts. The synthesized Fe3O4-OA was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy...

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is known to impair many aspects of quality of life. However, the correlation of this impairment with clinical severity remains equivocal despite various school, community and hospital-based studies. AIM: A hospital-based study was undertaken to measure the impairment of quality of life of patients of acne vulgaris and correlate it with the severity of lesions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study in a cohort of 100 patients of acne vulgaris attending the outpatient department of our referral hospital...

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is known to impair many aspects of quality of life. However, the correlation of this impairment with clinical severity remains equivocal despite various school, community and hospital-based studies. AIM: A hospital-based study was undertaken to measure the impairment of quality of life of patients of acne vulgaris and correlate it with the severity of lesions. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study in a cohort of 100 patients of acne vulgaris attending the outpatient department of our referral hospital...

The pathogenesis of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) or acne inversa is not completely understood. Recent research has led to greater insight into the mechanisms involved in the disease. The primary defect in HS pathophysiology rests with the hair follicle. Follicular occlusion, followed by follicular rupture, and a foreign body-type immune response are necessary conditions for the development of clinical HS. A specific genetic signature and environmental factors, such as cigarette smoking, microbial colonization, and adiposity, all contribute to the HS phenotype...

Many environmental acne disorders, including chloracne and oil acne, were previously thought to occur predominantly in occupational settings following polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure. Cigarette smoke has also been shown to contain a large number of these toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon components and strictly correlates with noninflammatory acneiform lesion development in postadolescent patients. We report a case of localized open comedones associated with occluded cigarette smoke exposure near the nasal cavity due to infrequently changed gauze following rhinectomy...

BACKGROUND: Postadolescent acne is defined as acne that is seen even after the age of 25 years, regardless of the age at onset. The causes of postadolescent acne have not been completely clarified up to now. Androgens are considered to be the major factor involved in pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the status of thyroid functions and lipid levels in patients with postadolescent acne and determine the effects of lifestyle and environmental factors on postadolescent acne in a Turkish population...

A review of the oxidization of squalene, a specific human compound produced by the sebaceous gland, is proposed. Such chemical transformation induces important consequences at various levels. Squalene by-products, mostly under peroxidized forms, lead to comedogenesis, contribute to the development of inflammatory acne and possibly modify the skin relief (wrinkling). Experimental conditions of oxidation and/or photo-oxidation mechanisms are exposed, suggesting that they could possibly be bio-markers of atmospheric pollution upon skin...