NCM 1921, a Mixture of Several Ingredients, Including Fatty Acids and Choline, Attenuates Atopic Dermatitis in 1-Chloro-2,4-Dinitrobenzene-Treated NC/Nga Mice

Stress Affects Mast Cell Proteases in Murine Skin in a Model of Atopic Dermatitis-like Allergic Inflammation

Stress exposure worsens allergic inflammatory diseases substantially. Mast cells (MCs) play a key role in peripheral immune responses to neuroendocrine stress mediators such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and substance P (SP). Mast cell proteases (MCPs) and cholinergic factors (Chrna7, SLURP1) were recently described to modulate MC stress response. We studied MCPs and Chrna7/SLURP1 and their interplay in a mouse model for noise induced stress (NiS) and atopic dermatitis-like allergic inflammation (AlD) and in cultured MC lacking Chrna7. We found that the cholinergic stress axis interacts with neuroendocrine stress mediators and stress-mediator cleaving enzymes in AlD. SP-cleaving mMCP4+ MC were upregulated in AlD and further upregulated by stress in NiS+AlD. Anti-NGF neutralizing antibody treatment blocked the stress-induced upregulation in vivo, and mMCP4+ MCs correlated with measures of AlD disease activity. Finally, high mMCP4 production in response to SP depended on Chrna7/SLURP1 in cultured MCs. In conclusion, mMCP4 and its upstream regulation by Chrna7/SLURP1 are interesting novel targets for the treatment of allergic inflammation and its aggravation by stress.

Tallow, Rendered Animal Fat, and Its Biocompatibility With Skin: A Scoping Review

There is a surge in the skincare industry marketing the use of natural ingredients as efficacious agents. Although this has been popular in the Eastern hemisphere for a while, Western countries are starting to put more emphasis on naturally derived products. This paper chose to analyze the current research available on tallow, which is a solid fat derived from animals. Tallow has long been used as a neutral cooking fat, ingredient in soaps, biofuel product, and now ingredient in skincare products. The purpose of this scoping review was to look at the current research pertaining to the therapeutic benefits of tallow on the skin. Using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, a scoping review was conducted using two databases: EMBASE and PubMed as sources of evidence. The searches for studies were conducted using the following key terms: (tallow) AND (skin or dermatology or dermatitis or emulsion or cosmetics or eczema). Papers were excluded if they were not in English, if they did not mention the effects of tallow on the skin, and if they did not use tallow rendered from an animal. Date ranges and geographical locations for articles were not part of our inclusion or exclusion criteria. We focused on the following five research questions: Does the composition of tallow make it better suitable for use on skin? What is the benefit of using tallow on skin? Does tallow have therapeutic properties for skin conditions? What side effects does tallow have on the skin? Is tallow reef-safe? While there is much evidence supporting the use of tallow as an ingredient in animal feed, cooking, soaps, and biofuels, there are significant research gaps in how it can be used on human skin. Our search on PubMed and EMBASE resulted in a total of 147 studies being screened with 19 fitting our specific criteria. Of the 19 studies, there were comparative studies, basic science studies, and animal studies. After reviewing the studies to answer the objectives in this paper, we were able to find information that supported the first three objectives; however, more research is still needed. Specifically, more research is needed that is geared towards tallow as a cosmetic product in humans. The fourth objective, which was to answer the side effects of topical tallow, had the most discrepancies between the sources. The fifth objective also found supporting information; however, only two sources were found. Overall, there needs to be more research with controlled variables on the side effects of topical tallow. Different research designs that could be explored include case studies, randomized controlled trials, cross-sectional studies, and qualitative studies.

Therapeutic effects of the Qingre-Qushi recipe on atopic dermatitis through the regulation of gut microbiota and skin inflammation

Accumulating evidence has highlighted a strong association between gut microbiota and the occurrence, development, prevention, and treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). The regulation of gut microbial dysbiosis by oral traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has garnered significant attention. In the treatment of AD, the TCM formula Qingre-Qushi Recipe (QRQS) has demonstrated clinical efficacy. However, both the therapeutic mechanisms of QRQS and its impact on gut microbiota remain unclear. Thus, our study aimed to assess the efficacy of QRQS and evaluate its influence on the composition and diversity of gut microbiota in AD animal models. First, we investigated the therapeutic effect of QRQS on AD using two animal models: filaggrin-deficient mice (Flaky tail, ft/ft) and MC903-induced AD-like mice. Subsequently, we explored its influence on the composition and diversity of gut microbiota. Our results demonstrated that QRQS treatment ameliorated the symptoms in both ft/ft mice and MC903-induced AD-like mice. It also reduced the levels of serum IgE and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, IL-4, IL-5, IL-9, IL-13, IL-17A, and TNF-α. Furthermore, QRQS remarkably regulated gut microbiota diversity by increasing Lactobacillaceae and decreasing Bacteroidales. The inflammatory factors in peripheral serum of ft/ft mice showed a close correlation with gut microbiota, as determined using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Additionally, PICRUSt analysis revealed an enrichment in ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and biosynthesis, and propanoate metabolism in the QRQS group compared to the ft/ft group. Finally, we identified liquiritin as the primary active ingredient of QRQS using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS). Our findings revealed that QRQS improved AD-like symptoms and alleviated skin inflammation in ft/ft and MC903-induced mice. This suggests that modulating the gut microbiota may help elucidate its anti-inflammation activation mechanism, highlighting a new therapeutic strategy that targets the intestinal flora to prevent and treat AD.

Kampo herbal ointments for skin wound healing

The management of skin wound healing problems is a public health issue in which traditional herbal medicines could play a determining role. Kampo medicine, with three traditionally used ointments, provides interesting solutions for these dermatological issues. These ointments named Shiunkō, Chuōkō, and Shinsen taitsukō all have in common a lipophilic base of sesame oil and beeswax from which herbal crude drugs are extracted according to several possible manufacturing protocols. This review article brings together existing data on metabolites involved in the complex wound healing process. Among them are representatives of the botanical genera Angelica, Lithospermum, Curcuma, Phellodendron, Paeonia, Rheum, Rehmannia, Scrophularia, or Cinnamomum. Kampo provides numerous metabolites of interest, whose content in crude drugs is very sensitive to different biotic and abiotic factors and to the different extraction protocols used for these ointments. If Kampo medicine is known for its singular standardization, ointments are not well known, and research on these lipophilic formulas has not been developed due to the analytical difficulties encountered in biological and metabolomic analysis. Further research considering the complexities of these unique herbal ointments could contribute to a rationalization of Kampo's therapeutic uses for wound healing.

Lower caprylate and acetate levels in the breast milk is associated with atopic dermatitis in infancy

BACKGROUND

Atopic dermatitis (AD) occurs in exclusively breastfed infants. As fatty acids have some immunomodulatory effect, we aimed to investigate the influence of fatty acid compositions in breast milk (BM) on the development of AD in exclusively breastfed infants.

METHODS

We enrolled two- to four-month-old exclusively breastfed infants. The objective SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (objSCORAD) was evaluated. The lipid layer of BM was analyzed by gas chromatography for fatty acid levels. Medical charts were reviewed.

RESULTS

Forty-seven AD infants and 47 healthy controls were enrolled. The objSCORAD was 20.5 ± 1.7 (shown as mean ± SEM) in the AD group. The age, sex, parental atopy history, and nutrient intake of mothers were not significantly different between two groups. The palmitate and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) levels in BM positively correlated with objSCORAD, while caprylate, acetate, and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels negatively correlated with objSCORAD (p = .031, .019, .039, .013, .022, respectively). However, the butyrate levels in BM were not significantly different. The caprylate and acetate levels in BM were significantly associated with the presence of infantile AD (p = .021 and .015, respectively) after adjusting for age, sex, parental allergy history, MUFA, palmitate, and SCFA levels in BM. ObjSCORAD in infancy was significantly associated with persistent AD (p = .026) after adjusting for age, sex, parental atopy history, caprylate, palmitate, MUFA, acetate, and SCFA levels in BM.

CONCLUSION

Caprylate and acetate levels in BM for exclusively breastfed infants were negatively associated with objSCORAD. Lower caprylate and acetate in BM might be the risk factors for infantile AD, while butyrate in BM was not associated with infantile AD.

Serum-Derived Neuronal Exosomal microRNAs as Stress-Related Biomarkers in an Atopic Dermatitis Model

Chronic allergic inflammatory skin disease—atopic dermatitis (AD)—is characterized by eczema, pruritus, xeroderma, and lichenification. Psychological stress is one cause of this disease; however, psychological stress will also result from the presence of AD symptoms. Previous studies have shown that psychological stress triggers neuroinflammation in the brain, where microRNAs (miRNAs) in the neuronal exosomes (nEVs) were analyzed to identify the composition of the miRNAs in the nEVs and how they were altered by AD. In this study, the AD model was induced by treatment with 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). The expression patterns of neuroinflammation markers, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cyclooxygenase-2, and glial fibrillary acidic protein, were subsequently evaluated over time. Among these groups, there was a significant difference in DNCB 14 days expression compared with the control; therefore, nEVs were isolated from serum and next-generation sequencing was performed. The results demonstrate that 9 miRNAs were upregulated and 16 were downregulated in the DNCB 14 days compared with the control. Previous studies have shown that some of these miRNAs are associated with stress and stress-induced depression, which suggests that the miRNAs in nEVs may also be stress-related biomarkers.

HDAC6 and CXCL13 Mediate Atopic Dermatitis by Regulating Cellular Interactions and Expression Levels of miR-9 and SIRT1

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) has been known to regulate inflammatory diseases. The role of HDAC6 in allergic skin inflammation has not been studied. We studied the role of HDAC6 in atopic dermatitis (AD) and the mechanisms associated with it. The decreased expression or chemical inhibition of HDAC6 suppressed AD by decreasing autophagic flux and cellular features of AD. AD increased expression levels of the Th1 and Th2 cytokines, but decreased expression levels of forkhead box P3 (FoxP3) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in an HDAC6-dependent manner. CXC chemokine ligand 13 (CXCL13), which was increased in an HDAC6-depenednt manner, mediated AD. MiR-9, negatively regulated by HDAC6, suppressed AD by directly regulating the expression of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). The downregulation or inhibition of SIRT1 suppressed AD. Experiments employing culture medium and transwell suggested that cellular interactions involving mast cells, keratinocytes, and dermal fibroblast cells could promote AD; HDAC6 and CXCL13 were found to be necessary for these cellular interactions. Mouse recombinant CXCL13 protein increased HDAC6 expression in skin mast cells and dermal fibroblast cells. CXCL13 protein was found to be present in the exosomes of DNCB-treated skin mast cells. Exosomes of DNCB-treated skin mast cells enhanced invasion potentials of keratinocytes and dermal fibroblast cells and increased expression levels of HDAC6, SIRT1 and CXCL13 in keratinocytes and dermal fibroblast cells. These results indicate that HDAC6 and CXCL13 may serve as targets for the developing anti-atopic drugs.