寻常痤疮对患者心理的影响

目的：了解痤疮患者心理受影响的程度和一些相关因素。方法：对北京、上海、广州、西安、武汉5个城市共2331例门诊痤疮患者采用APSEA量表进行问卷式调查。结果：痤疮影响了部分患者的心理健康，表现为焦虑、易怒和不自信。甚至干扰了他们的生活、影响择业。参与影响痤疮患者生活质量的可能因素是痤疮的严重程度、患者的文化程度。结论：痤疮对于患者的心理具有一定程度的影响，应该引起皮肤科医生的重视，尤其是重度痤疮和文化程度低的患者。     

Efficacy of oral antibiotics on acne vulgaris and their effects on quality of life: a multicenter randomized controlled trial using minocycline, roxithromycin and faropenem

There are few clinical studies which compare the efficacy and patient satisfaction for oral antibiotics to treat inflammatory acne. To clarify the difference between oral antibiotics, acne patients with moderate to severe inflammatory eruptions were randomized into three groups, and each patient was given minocycline (MINO), roxithromycin (RXM) or faropenem (FRPM) for 4 weeks, followed by 4 weeks of observation without any oral antibiotics. We estimated the reduction rate of inflammatory lesion counts, the scale of Skindex-16 which represents patient quality of life (QOL), and minimum inhibitory concentrations required to inhibit the growth of 90% of Propionibacterium acnes isolated from acne patients (MIC(90) ). In all three groups, inflammatory lesion counts, and emotional and total score of Skindex-16 were significantly improved (P<0.05) after 4 weeks treatment, and these effects were maintained for the following 4 weeks. Dizziness/nausea in two patients (4.1%) of the MINO group and diarrhea in three patients (5.9%) of the FRPM group were observed. There was no significant difference of percentage reduction in inflammatory lesion counts and incident rates of side-effects between these three oral antibiotics. MIC(90) of MINO was 0.25 μg/mL before and after treatment, but MIC(90) of RXM had increased from 0.25 μg/mL to more than 32 μg/mL after treatment. MIC(90) of FRPM was 0.06 μg/mL or less for all strains before and after treatment. Our randomized controlled clinical trial suggested that MINO, RXM and FRPM were efficient to improve inflammatory acne and patient QOL, and there was no significant difference between them.     

Spironolactone in adolescent acne vulgaris

Acne vulgaris (AV) is the most common skin condition affecting adolescents, most likely due to elevated androgen levels during puberty. Androgens stimulate and enlarge the sebaceous glands and keratinocytes, resulting in increased production of sebum and abnormal hyperproliferation of keratinocytes which lead to the formation of acne lesions. Current standard of care for AV includes topical therapies for mild cases and antibiotics or oral retinoids for severe cases. In recent years, spironolactone, an aldosterone antagonist and diuretic, has been applied to the treatment of AV due to its anti‐androgen effects. Spironolactone is currently recommended in women who use oral contraceptives, are refractory to or contraindicated for standard treatment, show clinical signs of hyperandrogenism, or present with late‐onset or persistent‐recurrent AV past the teenage years. It is not prescribed to adolescents due to potential side effects; however, current data studying adults indicate that most side effects are mild, and that potential associations with hyperkalemia and increased risk of cancer are not sufficiently supported. Hence, we believe that spironolactone may be a safe and effective therapy for adolescent AV.     

Effects of oral antibiotic roxithromycin on quality of life in acne patients

Macrolides are effective for inflammatory acne, but there are not many studies on roxithromycin. In this study, patients with acne were surveyed for improvement of their quality of life after treatment with roxithromycin. Patients were orally given roxithromycin 300 mg daily for 2–4 weeks. At the time of pre- and post-treatment, the dermatologists graded the severity of acne symptoms, and the patients answered questionnaires. In 123 half faces of 76 patients, 80 half faces were improved, 42 half faces were not changed, and one half face was deteriorated. The score of "symptom and feeling" and "leisure" in DLQI-J and "emotions" and "symptoms" in Skindex-29-J were significantly decreased after roxithromycin treatment. Roxithromycin has a therapeutic effect on inflammatory acne and leads to improvement of quality of life in the patients.     

DLQI测量寻常型痤疮及白癜风患者生活质量的研究

目的比较寻常型痤疮患者与白癜风患者的生活质量。方法采用中文版皮肤病生活质量指标（delmatolo-gylifequalityindex,DLQI）对门诊寻常型痤疮患者与白癜风患者进行调查,并检测量表的信度和效度。结果寻常型痤疮患者DLQI得分为8．68,白癜风组得分为6．34．除条目1、条目3以及条目7,痤疮组得分高于白癜风组外,其余7个方面两组得分均无差别。DLQI量表测量痤疮与白癜风均具有较好的信度和效度,但条目1不能在白癜风患者间形成有效地区分度一结论寻常型痤疮患者的生活质量低于白癜风患者。DLQI量表用于测量白癜风患者的生活质量时应进行修订。     

寻常座疮患者的发锌含量测定及补锌治疗观察

本文用空气-乙炔火焰法测定200例正常人及130例寻常痤疮在硫酸锌治疗前及50例在硫酸锌治疗后患者的发锌值,结果显示三组间发锌值无明显差别,表明检测发锌不能反映痤疮患者体内锌含量的消长。另外,作者以补锌治疗寻常痤疮,结果均取得了良好的临床疗效,其中单服硫酸锌组(90例),有效率为77.8％,服硫酸锌液同时加服硫化钙液组(40例),有效率为95.5％,后组疗效优于前组(P<0.05),两种治疗方法副作用均较少。     

对痤疮患者生活质量影响因素的分析

目的:了解痤疮患者生活质量及其影响因素。方法:采用自制生活质量调查问卷,对345例痤疮患者进行调查。结果:痤疮患者生活质量降低。多因素Logistic回归分析表明:自我感知和情感功能同性别、家庭情况、痤疮轻重分级和学生与否相关性密切;社会功能同长期居住地、痤疮轻重分级和学生与否相关性密切。结论:针对上述影响因素,临床医师适当实施心理干预措施和健康教育,有助于提高痤疮患者的生活质量。     

Effects of skin care and makeup under instructions from dermatologists on the quality of life of female patients with acne vulgaris

Acne vulgaris significantly affects patients' quality of life (QOL) and their lives in various ways, including social behavior and body dissatisfaction. This may be heightened by acne's typical involvement of the face. We investigated whether the use of skin care and makeup could influence the QOL of affected patients without deteriorating conventional acne treatments. Fifty female patients with acne were recruited for our study. Twenty-five patients were instructed how to use skin care and cosmetics, while 25 patients received no specific instructions from dermatologists. Both groups received conventional topical and/or oral medication for acne during the study period for 4 weeks. Both groups did not show any significant difference in clinical improvement of acne severity. Two validated QOL questionnaires, World Health Organization (WHO)QOL26 and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) were administered to all patients at first visit and 4 weeks later. The mean scores of psychological and overall domains in WHOQOL26 for patients with instructions were improved significantly, while only the overall score was significantly improved for patients without instructions. The total mean scores and all domains except work/school in DLQI for patients with instructions were improved significantly, while the total scores and all domains except discomfort for treatment in DLQI were significantly improved for patients without instructions. Thus, instructions on the use of skin care and cosmetics for female acne patients did not deteriorate acne treatment and influenced patients' QOL effectively. We therefore suggest that instructions for using skin care and cosmetics complement conventional medical treatments for acne.     

Evaluation of hematological parameters in patients using systemic isotretinoin with diagnosis of acne vulgaris

Objectives

Oral isotretinoin is the most effective treatment option in patients with acne. However, it can cause various hematologic and biochemical abnormalities. This study aimed to evaluate hematologic abnormalities during oral isotretinoin treatment in patients with acne.

Material and Methods

In this cross-sectional study, the hematologic and inflammatory parameters of 138 patients with acne using 0.3-1 mg/kg/day oral isotretinoin for at least 6 months were retrospectively analyzed.

Results

In the study, the female-to-male ratio was 2.83, and the mean age of the patients was 23.1 ± 5.8 years. At the third and sixth months of isotretinoin treatment, there was a statistically significant decrease in the neutrophil count compared to the pre-treatment values (p = 0.003 and p = 0.032, respectively). The platelet count showed the most statistically significant increase (p < 0.001) at the first month of treatment. The most statistically significant decrease in the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was observed at the third month of treatment (p < 0.001). No significant changes were observed in hemoglobin, hematocrit, white blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume, and mean platelet volume.

Conclusions

There was a decrease in neutrophils and NLR and an increase in platelets during isotretinoin treatment, and these changes were usually mild. However, it would be appropriate to monitor blood counts during treatment in patients with neutropenia or thrombocytosis.     

The practicalities of photodynamic therapy in acne vulgaris

A staple clinical skill in a dermatologist’s repertoire is the ability to treat acne vulgaris effectively. Light‐based therapies such as photodynamic therapy (PDT) widen the therapeutic options available for acne. Numerous review articles have agreed on the answer to core questions such as: ‘Does PDT work?’ and ‘Which acne lesions respond best to PDT?’ They conclude that PDT is especially useful in inflammatory acne and may be superior to light therapy alone. This literature review seeks to offer guidance regarding treatment‐specific queries about the photosensitizer, route of administration, treatment intervals, light sources and patient selection. Ovid Medline, PubMed and EMBASE database searches were executed between January 2007 and March 2008. Due to the scarcity of data, all five randomized trials, four of which were at least investigator blinded and controlled, 12 open clinical studies, two case reports and two abstracts published in English were considered. Four hundred and nineteen patients were recruited. As the quality of the data was suboptimal in a significant number of articles, the conclusions are drawn in very broad strokes: topical short‐contact (90 min or less) 5‐aminolaevulinic acid or methyl aminolaevulinate using a noncoherent light source at 2–4‐week intervals for a total of two to four treatments produces the greatest clinical effect. Papulopustular acne is more responsive and all Fitzpatrick skin types are eligible. However, patients with skin types I–III have a reduced risk of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation seen in darker skin types. These treatment parameters demonstrate a good side‐effect profile resulting in acne remission for at least 3 months to a year in a relatively cost‐effective manner. Well‐designed nonsplit‐face randomized controlled trials would offer further guidance, especially for queries surrounding the light source and illumination schemes.     

A cross-sectional analysis of quality of life in Japanese acne patients using the Japanese version of Skindex-16

We measured the quality of life of Japanese patients with acne using the Japanese version of Skindex-16, a semantically equivalent and validated translation of the original version produced by Chren et al. A total of 210 acne patients were enrolled in this study. The results showed that patients with acne experienced more severe emotional effects from their skin disease than functional or symptomatic effects. The scores for emotional aspects were related to the severity of the patients' acne following a prescribed scale, but the scores were high even when the patients only had a few comedones. Akaike's information criterion showed that the scores for symptoms were related to the severity of the patients' acne, and the patients' emotions were related to the interval between clinic visits. To improve patients' quality of life, treatment of comedones should be fully respected. In addition, dermatologists should encourage patients to visit clinics regularly to help them improve the emotional aspects of their quality of life.     

Efficacy of metformin vs. doxycycline in treating acne vulgaris: An assessor-blinded,add-on,randomized, controlled clinical trial

Introduction

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) plays a role in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris. Metformin can reduce IGF-1 levels and insulin resistance, so it may be useful in treating acne.

Objective

This study compared the efficacy of metformin and doxycycline in treating patients with acne vulgaris.

Methods

In this assessor-blind, add-on, randomized controlled clinical trial, we enrolled 40 patients with moderate acne vulgaris aged 15–40 and randomly divided them into two groups. For two months, the first group received doxycycline 100 mg capsules daily, and the second received metformin 500 mg tablets twice daily. The patients in both groups were adminitered to apply a fingertip (fourth finger) of 5% benzoyl peroxide gel (Pangel®) topically every night over the lesions, and to wash it off after 30 min. Patients were evaluated using the Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) score, Investigator Global Assessment for Acne (IGA) score, Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI), Total Acne Lesion Count (TLC), and the number of inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions.

Results

By the end of the study, the GAGS, IGA, CADI, and TLC scores and the number of inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions decreased significantly in both groups (p < 0.001), with no significant difference between the two groups (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

This trial indicates equal efficacy of doxycycline and metformin in reducing acne vulgaris severity, with doxycycline performing better in reducing lesions of the inflammatory type. Confirmatory or equivalence clinical trials should be performed to confirm our results.     

Disease-specific quality of life is associated with anxiety and depression in patients with acne

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the relationships between acne severity, anxiety, depression and disease-specific quality of life in patients with acne. METHOD: A total of 61 patients with acne vulgaris and 38 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Acne severity was assessed by the Global Acne Grading System. All patients were asked to complete the Acne Quality of Life Scale (AQOL), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), and healthy controls to fill only the HAD. RESULTS: The mean HAD anxiety subscale (HAD-A) and HAD depression subscale (HAD-D) scores of the patients were significantly higher than those of the controls. The rates of subjects at risk for anxiety (26.2%) and for depression (29.5%) were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (0% and 7.9%, respectively). We found no correlations between acne severity and scores of AQOL, DLQI, HAD-A and HAD-D. AQOL and DLQI scores were positively correlated with HAD-A and HAD-D scores in the patient group. The patients at risk for anxiety had significantly higher scores on AQOL and DLQI compared to those who were not at risk. There were no statistically significant differences between the female and male patients with respect to AQOL, DLQI, HAD-A and HAD-D scores. CONCLUSION: (1) Irrespective of the degree of severity, patients with acne are at increased risk for anxiety and depression compared to the normal population. (2) Acne negatively affects quality of life, and the greater the impairment of quality of life due to acne, the greater the level of anxiety and depression. (3) A greater impairment of dermatologic quality of life seems to put the patient at an increased risk for anxiety disorder.     

Decrease in glutathione may be involved in pathogenesis of acne vulgaris

Background Some past studies reported that oxidative stress components such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) or lipid peroxide (LPO) are involved in the pathogenesis and progression of acne vulgaris. In this study, we hypothesized that the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris may depend on the differences in antioxidative activity among antioxidants in our body. We collected samples of stratum corneum from acne patients and healthy subjects and compared the quantity of gluthathione (GSH), one of many antioxidative components in our body, for comparison. Methods Samples of stratum corneum were collected from facial acne‐involved lesion, facial uninvolved area, and the medial side of the upper arm in acne vulgaris patients. Similarly, samples were collected from a facial uninvolved area and the medial side of the upper arm in healthy subjects. The quantity of GSH was measured in each area. In vitro effects of alpha‐melanocyte stimulating hormone (α‐MSH) on GSH synthesis‐related gene were also examined. Results The quantity of GSH in stratum corneum from each area was significantly lower in acne vulgaris patients than that of healthy subjects. There was no significant difference in quantity of GSH between the acne‐involved lesion and uninvolved area in acne patients. In vitro studies showed that the expression level of Glutamate‐cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), one of the GSH synthesis‐related genes, was significantly decreased by the additional use of α‐MSH. Conclusions We conclude that a decline in antioxidative activity led by a decrease in GSH quantity may play an important role in pathogenesis of acne vulgaris. The use of α‐MSH may further decrease the GSH level.     

Possible gender differences in the quality of life and choice of therapy in acne

Background Acne is a very common skin disease that has major impact on the patients’ quality of life. Although the disease has been extensively studied we still need more knowledge of factors influencing the decisions for choice of therapy. Objective To evaluate the relationships between clinical severity, patients’ self‐reported quality of life, treatment choice and the outcome of therapy in a structured out‐patient acne clinic. Methods In total 211 consecutive patients (143 females, 68 males) at a structured acne clinic were included. At the first visit a clinical assessment was conducted, therapy was initiated and the patients answered a quality‐of‐life questionnaire (Dermatology Life Quality Index, DLQI). A follow up was performed after six months, when patients once again answered the DLQI questionnaire and the clinical outcome was assessed by the physician. Results The quality of life was improved after treatment at a group level. At the first visit, the quality of life showed a gender difference (females scoring worse) but did not correlate to the clinical grading nor to the choice of therapy. At six months the DLQI correlated with clinical outcome. Patients with isotretinoin therapy showed a significantly greater improvement in quality of life. There was a tendency to gender difference in the choice of therapy, as in females 32% of the patients were treated with isotretinoin although they were clinically graded as moderate. The corresponding figure for males was 23%. A correlation was found between the initial clinical grading and gender, age and the choice of therapy. Conclusion DLQI can be used to evaluate treatment effects in acne. However, the self‐reported quality of life will depend on several factors including age, gender, psychosocial factors and clinical severity.