Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease with complicated pathophysiology that involves genetic and environmental elements and dysregulation of innate and adaptive immunity, neurovascular responses, microbiome colonization or infection, resulting in recurrent inflammation. Rosacea has been reported associated with various gastrointestinal diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease,
Helicobacter pylori
(HP) infection, and small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). The link may involve common predisposing genetic, microbiota, and immunological factors, comprising the theory of the gut–skin axis. Although the evidence is still controversial, interestingly, medications for eradicating SIBO and HP provided an effective and prolonged therapeutic response in rosacea, and conventional therapy for which is usually disappointing because of frequent relapses. In this article, we review the current evidence and discuss probable mechanisms of the association between rosacea and gastrointestinal comorbidities.
Graphical abstract
Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS) have many advantages and represent an excellent alternative to oral delivery and hypodermic injections. TDDS are more convenient and less invasive tools for disease and viral infection treatment, prevention, detection, and surveillance. The emerging development of microneedles for TDDS has facilitated improved skin barrier penetration for the delivery of macromolecules or hydrophilic drugs. Microneedle TDDS patches can be fabricated to deliver virus vaccines and potentially provide a viable alternative vaccine modality that offers improved immunogenicity, thermostability, simplicity, safety, and compliance as well as sharp-waste reduction, increased cost-effectiveness, and the capacity for self-administration, which could improve vaccine distribution. These advantages make TDDS-based vaccine delivery an especially well-suited option for treatment of widespread viral infectious diseases including pandemics. Because microneedle-based bioassays employ transdermal extraction of interstitial fluid or blood, they can be used as a minimally invasive approach for surveying disease markers and providing point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. For cutaneous viral infections, TDDS can provide localized treatment with high specificity and less systemic toxicity. In summary, TDDS, especially those that employ microneedles, possess special attributes that can be leveraged to reduce morbidity and mortality from viral infectious diseases. In this regard, they may have considerable positive impact as a modality for improving global health. In this article, we introduce the possible role and summarize the current literature regarding TDDS applications for fighting common cutaneous or systemic viral infectious diseases, including herpes simplex, varicella or herpes zoster, warts, influenza, measles, and COVID-19.
The smartphone-based wallpaper learning module was effective in helping medical students and residents learn and memorize morphologic characteristics of fungi. In comparison to conventional lecture-based learning, this new mobile module was more readily accessible and convenient for learners to engage in learning.
Background Several dermoscopy training programs have found the accuracy of dermoscopy examination depends on adequate training of practitioners. Smartphones are readily available and time-efficient tools for dermoscopy training.Aim To evaluate the learning efficacy of utilizing dermoscopy smartphone wallpapers to train medical students, PGY (postgraduate year)-1 trainees, and junior dermatological residents without prior dermoscopy training. Methods We designed smartphone wallpapers with dermoscopy pictures and features of several common melanocytic and nonmelanocytic conditions. Pretests and posttests were performed before and after a 10-day-long smartphone wallpaper training program to evaluate their diagnostic accuracy using dermoscopy images.Results Significant progressions were noted between the pretest and posttest scores both in the nonmelanocytic (P < 0.001) and the melanocytic (P = 0.003) sections. Medical students and PGY-1 trainees demonstrated more significant improvement in nonmelanocytic lesions, compared to dermatology residents. Residents of dermatology showed more progression in the melanocytic section than nonresidents.Limitations There were limited participants. The frequency and time allotted by each participant in perusing the wallpapers were variable. Further study of the application on clinical practice is still needed.Conclusion Smartphone wallpapers training improves dermoscopic interpretation significantly in medical students, PGY-1 trainees, and dermatological residents. The background knowledge of dermatology has an effect on the degree of improvement in the training course.
Subjects and methodsThe dermoscopy training program is divided into two sections, nonmelanocytic and melanocytic.
Design of dermoscopic smartphone wallpapersOne to nine wallpapers were designed for each diagnosis according to the variation and specificity of its dermoscopic features.The smartphone wallpapers contained clear dermoscopic ª
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