Northwestern to explore personalized medicine for scleroderma

Northwestern Medicine researchers have received two five-year grants totaling $953,000 from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to study scleroderma, an autoimmune disease for which there currently is no cure. The grants will enable researchers at Northwestern to identify biomarkers for the disease, and are the first step in developing a national resource for investigators studying scleroderma.

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Closer to a cure for eczema

Scientists have found that a strain of yeast implicated in inflammatory skin conditions, including eczema, can be killed by certain peptides and could potentially provide a new treatment for these debilitating skin conditions. This research is published today in the Society for Applied Microbiology’s journal, Letters in Applied Microbiology.

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Psoriasis is associated with impaired HDL function, Penn study finds

Collaborative research from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has shown that psoriasis patients have an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, especially if the psoriasis is moderate to severe. Now, Penn researchers have discovered the potential underlying mechanism by which the inflammatory skin disease impacts cardiovascular health. In two new studies presented at the 2011 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Penn researchers show that the systemic inflammatory impact of psoriasis may alter both the makeup of cholesterol particles and numbers, as well as impair the function of high density lipoprotein (HDL), the “good” cholesterol.

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Bioengineering to repair and generate healthy skin

Scientists at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid are participating in research to study how to make use of the potential for auto regeneration of stem skills from skin, in order to create, in the laboratory, a patient’s entire cutaneous surface by means of a combination of biological engineering and tissue engineering techniques.

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Nearly 1 in 4 people with psoriasis may have undiagnosed psoriatic arthritis

—If you have psoriasis or a family history of psoriasis and you are experiencing joint pain and swelling, you could have psoriatic arthritis, a serious disease that may lead to joint destruction and disability.

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Building a better antipsychotic drug by treating schizophrenia’s cause

The classic symptoms of schizophrenia – paranoia, hallucinations, the inability to function socially—can be managed with antipsychotic drugs. But exactly how these drugs work has long been a mystery.

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Four new psoriasis ‘hotspots’ identified by U-M geneticists

Discovery may aid in developing new therapies

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Scientists at the University of Michigan Heath System and their collaborators have found four new DNA “hotspots” that may one day help guide new treatments for psoriasis, one of the most common autoimmune diseases in the country.

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A step toward a new sunscreen?

Plant agents show promise in preventing skin cancer

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, U.S.A. — Scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio are on to something that should bring joy to sunbathers everywhere. Studies show that certain plant substances, administered in combinations, have the ability to suppress skin cancer development in susceptible mice.

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UV-B treatment may improve psoriasis and vitamin D levels

Treatment with narrow-band UV-B rays may increase serum levels of vitamin D in the wintertime while clearing psoriasis, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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Probiotics use in mothers limits eczema in their babies

Mothers who drank milk with a probiotic supplement during and after pregnancy were able to cut the incidence of eczema in their children by almost half, a new study published in the British Journal of Dermatology has shown.

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