Skin anatomy and physiology undergo modifications throughout the whole lifespan. In children the skin appears with structural characteristics, as evaluated by histology, which differ from those of ...adults, especially in the first years of life.
The aim of our study was to evaluate skin thickness and echogenicity at different sites in children by 20-MHz ultrasound.
Eight skin sites of 42 children and 30 young adults were studied with a 20-MHz B scanner. Skin thickness and mean echogenicity were evaluated. The echographic images were processed and segmented by a dedicated program: the 0-30 amplitude interval, which marks the hypoechogenic parts of the tissue, and the 201-255 range, highlighting the hyperreflecting areas, have been selected.
Whereas skin thickness shows a gradual increase from birth to adulthood, maturation of the skin leads to variations in the intensity of its echogenicity, depending on the different skin areas. Whereas on the face and the trunk it appears lower in adults with respect to children, a gradual increase can be observed on the limbs with growing age. The distribution of skin reflectivity also greatly varies in different phases of life.
Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) is an optical technology that provides fast H&E-like images of freshly excised tissues, and it has been mainly used for “real-time” pathological ...examination of dermatological malignancies. It has also shown to be a promising tool for fast pathological examination of prostatic tissues. We aim to create an atlas for FCM images of prostatic and periprostatic tissues to facilitate the interpretation of these images. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the learning curve of images interpretation of this new technology. Eighty fresh and unprepared biopsies obtained from radical prostatectomy specimens were evaluated using the FCM VivaScope® 2500 M-G4 (Mavig GmbH, Munich, Germany; Caliber I.D.; Rochester NY, USA) by two pathologists. Images of FCM with the corresponding H&E are illustrated to create the atlas. Furthermore, the two pathologists were asked to re-evaluate the 80 specimens after 90 days interval in order to assess the learning curve of images’ interpretation of FCM. FCM was able to differentiate between different types of prostatic and periprostatic tissues including benign prostatic glands, benign prostatic hyperplasia, high-grade intraepithelial neoplasm, and prostatic adenocarcinoma. As regards the learning curve, FCM demonstrated a short learning curve. We created an atlas that can serve as the base for urologists and pathologists for learning and interpreting FCM images of prostatic and periprostatic tissues. Furthermore, FCM images is easily interpretable; however, further studies are required to explore the potential applications of this new technology in prostate cancer diagnosis and management.
Ex vivo fluorescence confocal microscopy (FCM) is an innovative imaging tool that can be used intraoperatively to obtain real‐time images of untreated excised tissue with almost histologic ...resolution. As inflammatory diseases often share overlapping clinical features, histopathology evaluation is required for dubious cases, delaying definitive diagnoses, and therefore therapy. This study identifies key‐features at ex vivo FCM for differential diagnoses of cutaneous inflammatory diseases, in particular, psoriasis, eczema, lichen planus and discoid lupus erythematosus. Retrospective ex vivo FCM and histological evaluations with relevant diagnoses were correlated with prospectively reported histopathologic diagnoses, to evaluate agreement and the level of expertise required for correct diagnoses. We demonstrated that ex vivo FCM enabled the distinction of the main inflammatory features in most cases, providing a substantial concordance to histopathologic diagnoses. Moreover, ex vivo FCM and histological evaluations reached a substantial agreement with histopathologic diagnoses both for all raters and for each operator. After a yet to be defined learning curve, these preliminary results suggest that dermatologists may be able to satisfactorily interpret ex vivo FCM images for correct real‐time diagnoses. Despite some limitations mainly related to the equipment of FCM with a single objective lens, our study suggests that ex vivo FCM seems a promising tool in assisting diagnoses of cutaneous inflammatory lesions, with a level of accuracy quite close to that offered by histopathology. This is the first study to investigate ex vivo FCM application in cutaneous inflammatory lesions, and to evaluate the diagnostic capability of this technology.
Among these immunoregulatory mechanisms, PD-1/PD-L1 pathway seems to be an important effector in the suppression of immune system activation and its role is not fully understood in hDPSCs 4. ...the ...present study aimed to 1) investigate the downstream mechanism of a new immune-regulatory pathway, i.e., PD-1/PD-L1, in hDPSCs 2) how the inflammatory microenvironment might affect hDPSCs immunomodulatory potential. Methods: Inflammatory microenvironment was created in vitro by the activation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from healthy donors and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies. ...as demonstrated by using a selective PD-L1 inhibitor, hDPSCs were able to activate compensatory pathways (i.e., Fas/FasL).
An increasing number of people seek treatment for aging-related conditions. Plant-derived nutraceuticals are currently of great interest in the setting of dermo-cosmetic studies for their preventive ...role in photoaging. We conducted an in vitro study on the possible preventive properties against photoaging of a commercially available product (Venerinasesup.® ). A mixture of Rhodiola rosea, Tribulus terrestris, Moringa oleifera, Undaria pinnatifida, folic acid and vitamin B12 (Venerinasesup.® ) was tested for its potential anti-aging effects on the skin in vitro. Conventional histology, immunofluorescence and real time PCR were employed in the research protocol. The tested product was proven to prevent UV-induced morphological changes both in keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Moreover, senescence-related and proinflammatory pathways commonly triggered by UV exposure were demonstrated to be inhibited by Venerinasesup.® pretreatment. Our results support the potential clinical benefits of oral supplements for the treatment and/or prevention of cutaneous photodamage.
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