[Lichen planus, COVID-19 and depression: psychosomatic correlations]. / Krasnyi ploskii lishai, COVID-19 i depressiya: psikhosomaticheskie korrelyatsii.

The authors present a clinical case of a female patient with depression who developed lichen planus during the COVID-19 pandemic and describe the anamnesis, skin and mental status of the patient. The phenomenon of amplified itching in the clinical picture in the post-covid period in the framework of depressive cataesthetic hyperesthesia is considered. A comprehensive psychosomatic assessment of the condition and the inclusion of approaches of psychocorrection in basic dermatotropic therapy contributed to the normalization of mood, rapid and complete reduction of itching, improvement of the skin status and patient's quality of life.

Dermatitis artefacta: self-inflicted genital injury.

BACKGROUND: The term dermatitis artefacta (factitious dermatitis, pathomimia) is reserved for the most severe variant of factitious physical disorder and is characterized by exaggerated lying (pseudologia fantastica), sociopathy, geographic wandering (peregrinating) from hospital to hospital, and seeking to be in the patient role. OBJECTIVE: This report aims to give attention to the importance of accurate and detailed history, and conducting an appropriate physical examination in patients with life-threatening diseases when the underlying cause is not apparent. The diagnosis of dermatitis artefacta must always be upheld. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a unique case of a 52-year-old male who presented to clinic with skin lesions on scrotum and shaft of his penis and that were very distinct and suggestive of pyoderma gangrenosum which he developed 3 months after previous discharge from the clinic. Clinical response to treatment and the absence of laboratory findings confirmed a dermatitis artefacta. CONCLUSION: Dermatitis artefacta is a factitious disorder that involves falsification of psychological or physical signs or symptoms caused entirely by the patients themselves, in a clear state of consciousness, in order to play the role of a sick person. The correlation of anamnestic data and clinical and para-clinical exams was essential for the diagnosis of dermatitis artefacta in this case. To the best of our knowledge, pyoderma gangrenosum-like lesions have never been reported in a patient with dermatitis artefacta. Herein, we describe a rare case report of self-inflicted genital injury in a 52-year-old male.

[Immunohistochemical study of the specific features of expression of matrix metalloproteinases 1, 9 in the photoaged skin, the foci of actinic keratosis and basal cell carcinoma]. / Immunogistokhimicheskoe issledovanie osobennostei ekspressii matriksnykh metalloproteinaz 1, 9 v kozhe s dermatogeliozom, ochagakh aktinicheskogo keratoza i bazal'no-kletochnogo raka kozhi.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) mediate the degradation of all types of collagens and other extracellular matrix components (elastin, proteoglycans, and laminin), their synthesis and accumulation play a key role in the hydrolysis of basement membrane. MMPs are involved in a wide range of proteolytic processes in the presence of different physiological and pathological changes, including inflammation, wound healing, angiogenesis, and carcinogenesis. AIM: to study the specific features of MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression in different stages of skin photoaging, in the foci of actinic keratosis and basal cell carcinoma by immunohistochemical examination. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 12 samples of the healthy skin (6 samples of the eyelid skin with Glogau grade II photoaging; 6 ones of eyelid skin with Glogau grades III-IV photoaging) and biopsies from 8 foci of actinic keratosis and from 8 ones of basal cell carcinoma were examined. A positive reaction to MMPs was shown as different brown staining intensity in the cytoplasm of keratinocytes/tumor cells. RESULTS: MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression was recorded in 67% of the histological specimens of the Glogau grade III photoaged skin and in 100% of those of Glogau grade IV. In the foci of actinic keratosis, the expression of MMP-1 was observed in 62.5% of cases and that of MMP-9 was seen in 87.5%. In basal cell carcinoma, the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9 was detected in all investigated samples. CONCLUSION: The immunomorphological findings are indicative of the important role of the level of MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression that is associated with the degree of progression of skin photoaging processes. Minimal MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression was recorded even in grades III-IV photoaging and in the foci of actinic keratosis. Intense MMP-1 and MMP-9 expression was detected in malignant skin epithelial neoplasms as different clinicomorphological types of basal cell carcinoma.

[Assessment of skin photoaging in middle-aged and elder patients with non-melanoma skin cancers].

The development of methods of early detection of non-melanoma skin cancers, assessment of risk factors, including photoaging, by means of non-invasive techniques are the main research interests of modern dermato-oncology and gerontology. In our study we aim to investigate the range of clinical features of photoaging in 92 patients older than 50 years (50 patients had malignant epithelial skin tumors (actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma), to reveal risk factors for basal-cell carcinoma using adapted SCINEXA scale and to assess of the pathomorphological features of dermathoheliosis using reflectance confocal microscopy. The assessment of photoaging by means of SCINEXA with subsequent non-invasive evaluation using reflectance confocal microscopy allows to evaluate the cumulative effect of the ultraviolet irradiation on the skin with objective criteria. That algorithm is perspective in terms of early detection of the risk factors of non-melanoma skin cancers.