Cigarette smoke-induced interleukin-1 alpha may be involved in the pathogenesis of adult acne.

BACKGROUND: Lipid peroxide (LPO) in comedones, which are produced as a result of sebum oxidation, might potentially induce interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and exacerbate comedogenesis and inflammatory changes in comedones. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of proinflammatory cytokines and LPO levels in the extracts of comedones with the acne of clinical difference between smokers and non-smokers, and with the severity and distribution of the acne lesions. METHODS: Twenty-two non-smoking and 21 smoking adult acne patients were evaluated by comedone extraction and measurement of proinflammatory cytokines and LPO levels. Acne severity and distribution of the lesions were also analyzed. RESULTS: Relative to the non-smoking group, smokers had significantly higher levels of IL-1α and LPO in comedones. Their levels showed a positive correlation. However, there were no statistically significant difference between the severity or distribution of the disease and the levels of LPO and IL-1α in comedones. CONCLUSION: Smoking may be involved in the pathogenesis of adult acne by increasing the oxidative stress that results in subsequent accumulation of LPO in comedones.

Differential Expression of TGF-ß Isoforms in Human Kerationocytes by Narrow Band UVB.

BACKGROUND: Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß), a multifunctional growth factor, has three isoforms: TGF-ß1, TGF-ß2, and TGF-ß3. Different isoforms of TGF-ß are associated with different proliferation and differentiation states of the epidermis. Narrow band ultraviolet B (NBUVB) emits a concentrated UVB source of 311 nm. NBUVB 1,000 mJ/cm(2) induces apoptosis in approximately 50% of keratinocytes. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether irradiation with NBUVB would alter the expression and production of TGF-ß1, 2, and 3. METHODS: We measured TGF-ß1, 2, and 3 mRNA and TGF-ß1 and 2 protein levels at 800, 1,000, and 1,200 mJ/cm(2) for 24 hours and 48 hours. RESULTS: TGF-ß1 mRNA levels were increased at both 24 hr and 48 hr, TGF-ß2 mRNA levels were decreased at both 24 hr and 48 hr, and TGF-ß3 mRNA levels were increased at 24 hr and similar to control at 48 hr. TGF-ß1 protein levels were increased at 48 hr but decreased at 24 hr. TGF-ß2 protein levels were decreased at both 24 hr and 48 hr. CONCLUSION: The results suggest a possible role for TGF-ß1 after NBUVB irradiation and opposing roles for TGF-ß1 and TGF-ß2 isoforms in NBUVB irradiation.

A study on altered expression of serine palmitoyltransferase and ceramidase in psoriatic skin lesion.

Ceramides are the main lipid component maintaining the lamellae structure of stratum corneum, as well as lipid second messengers for the regulation of cellular proliferation and/or apoptosis. In our previous study, psoriatic skin lesions showed marked decreased levels of ceramides and signaling molecules, specially protein kinase C-alpha (PKC-alpha) and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in proportion to the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores, which suggested that the depletion of ceramide is responsible for epidermal hyperproliferation of psoriasis via downregulation of proapoptotic signal cascade such as PKC-alpha and JNK. In this study, we investigated the protein expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) and ceramidase, two major ceramide metabolizing enzymes, in both psoriatic epidermis and non-lesional epidermis. The expression of SPT, the ceramide generating enzyme in the de novo synthesis in psoriatic epidermis, was significantly less than that of the non-lesional epidermis, which was inversely correlated with PASI score. However, the expression of ceramidase, the degradative enzyme of ceramides, showed no significant difference between the lesional epidermis and the non-lesional epidermis of psoriatic patients. This might suggest that decreased expression of SPT protein is one of the important causative factors for decreased ceramide levels in psoriasis.