Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of Qingpeng ointment,a topical Tibetan medicine,on induced irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) in mice and its possible mechanisms.Methods An ICD model was developed in 180 seven-week-old BALB/c mice by applying sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS,10％ in distilled water) on shaved backs,and the mice were then equally divided into 5 groups to remain untreated (model control),be treated with 100％,75％,50％ Qingpeng ointment and vehicle of the ointment (vehicle control),respectively,for 11 days.Thirty-six mice receiving no irritation or treatment served as the blank control.At day 8 and 12 after the beginning of treatment,drill biopsy specimens were gained from induced lesions of these mice and subjected to the measurement of skin thickness and weight,observation of histopathological changes with hematoxylin and eosin staining,and calculation of inflammatory cells infiltrating the dermis; blood samples were also obtained,and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to quantify the expression level of interleukin (IL)-2,tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ in sera and homogenates of skin lesions.Results Compared with the model control and vehicle control mice,those treated with 100％ Qingpeng ointment showed an attenuated inflammation and swelling,together with a decreased neutrophil skin infiltration.At day 12,the levels of IL-2,TNF-α and IFN-γ were significantly lower in the sera ( (5.55 ± 0.33) vs.(6.41 ± 0.96) and (6.25 ± 0.92) pg/ml,(70.88 ± 1.55 )vs.(76.67 ± 1.14) and (76.95 ± 1.08) pg/ml,(76.99 ± 1.85) vs.(82.20 ± 2.36) and (81.76 ± 3.19) pg/ml,respectively,all P ＜ 0.05) and homogenates of skin lesions ((17.75 ± 0.97) vs.(23.92 ± 0.82) and (23.11 ± 0.82) pg/ml,(66.95 ± 3.58) vs.(70.66 ± 2.68) and (71.17 ± 3.30) pg/ml,(46.85 ± 2.43) vs.(55.14 ± 2.68) and (53.55 ± 3.24) pg/ml.all P ＜ 0.05) in mice treated with 100％ Qingpeng ointment than those in the model control and vehicle control groups.Conclusion The 100％ Qingpeng ointment can suppress the inflammatory response in experimental ICD in mice,with a decrease in the level of IL-2,TNF-α and IFN-γ in sera and skin lesions.

Objective To investigate the effect of a topical Tibetan medicine,Qingpeng ointment,on atopic dermatitis in mice and its possible mechanisms.Methods A model of atopic dermatitis was established in 180 7-week-old BALB/c mice by repeatedly applying 100 μl of 0.15％ 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) to shaved ventral skin and 50 μl of 0.15％ DNFB to shaved dorsal skin.After the establishment of model,the mice were divided into 5 groups,i.e.,model group receiving no treatment,three Qingpeng groups treated with 100％,75％ and 50％ Qingpeng ointment respectively,vehicle control group treated with the vehicle of Qingpeng ointment.Thirty-six mice receiving neither DNFB sensitization nor Qingpeng ointment or vehicle treatment served as the blank control group.The treatment lasted 14 days.On day 8 and 15,serum samples and dorsal skin tissue samples were obtained from these mice.Skin samples underwent the measurement of thickness and weightness,observation of histopathological changes by using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining,enumeration of inflammatory cells infiltrating the dermis.Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to determine the levels of several cytokines,including interleukin (IL)-2,-4 and-5,interferon (IFN)-γ,tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α,in the sera and homogenate of the skin samples.Results All the 3 concentrations of Qingpeng ointment significantly inhibited skin inflammation induced by DNFB on day 8 and 15,with a decrease in the degree of edema and number of lymphocytes infiltrating the dermis.Compared with the model mice and vehicle-treated mice,those treated with 100％ and 75％ Qingpeng ointment showed a significantly lower level of IL-4 and IL-5 in both sera and homogenates of skin lesions on day 8 and 15 after the start of treatment (all P ＜0.05).On day 15,a statistical increase was observed in IL-2,IFN-γand TNF-α in sera as well as in IFN-γ and TNF-α in homogenates of skin lesions from mice treated with 100％ Qingpeng ointment compared with the model mice and vehicle control mice (all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Qingpeng ointment can inhibit the inflammation in mouse model of atopic dermatitis,likely by modulating the balance between type 1 and type 2 T helper cells.

The putative allergens,clinical manilestations and patch tests of traditional Chinese medicinal materials (CMM) which cause contact dermatitis (CD) are studied in this paper. 14 patients with CMM CD and 351 controls were patch tested with the standard series of allergen produced by the Beijing Medical University and the suspected drugs been tised. It was found that most CMM CD were caused by the CMM frequently used topically for "analgesic and antiphlogistic". All the patients patch tested with suspected drugs gave positive results. Some patients also reacted to fragrance mix, colophony, rubber mix and ammoniated mercury. The positive rates of fragrance mix and colophony in CMM CD patients were significantly higher than controls while rubber mix and ammoniated mercury were not. The results indicated that the topical analgesic and antiphlogistic CMM especially those containing fragrance may be liable to cause sensitization. CMM CD can be diagnosed by patch testing the putative drugs.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of topical glucocorticoids combined with a moisturizer containing antimicrobial peptides in the treatment of persistent localized eczema. Methods A total of 60 patients with localized eczema were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 topically applied Fuqing gel (an antimicrobial dressing) and hydrocortisone butyrate cream twice a day for 2 weeks, and group 2 topically applied the vehicle of Fuqing gel and hydrocortisone butyrate cream twice a day for 2 weeks. Recovered patients were followed up once every 4 weeks for 12 weeks. Bacterial culture was performed for 5 patients with suspected local Staphylococcus. aureus infection, including 3 patients in group 1 and 2 in group 2, before and after the 2?week treatment. Therapeutic effects were evaluated and compared between the two groups. Results Compared with group 2, group 1 showed a signifi?cantly higher response rate after 1?week treatment(χ2 = 5.455, P < 0.05), but significantly lower eczema area and severity index(EASI)scores after 1? and 2?week treatment(both P < 0.05). Before the treatment, S. aureus was detected in all the 5 patients. After 2?week treatment, S. aureus was undetected in all the 3 patients in group 1, but was still detected in the other 2 patients in group 2. The treatment was rated as ineffective in none of 7 recovered patients in group 1 during the 12?week follow up, but in 2 of 5 recovered patients in group 2 at week 10. Conclusion Fuqing gel combined with glucocorticoid ointment is safe and effective for the treatment of localized eczema, and can be applied in clinic.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of topical hydrocortisone butyrate cream combined with a skin cream dressing in the treatment of mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) .Methods:From July 2019 to June 2020, a randomized, open, controlled clinical study was conducted in Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University. Sixty patients with mild to moderate AD were enrolled into this study, and randomly divided into 2 groups by using a random number table. The patients in test group topically applied a skin cream dressing (trade name FORENéE) followed by hydrocortisone butyrate cream, and those in control group topically applied the vehicle of the cream dressing followed by hydrocortisone butyrate cream. The treatment was carried out twice a day for 4 weeks. Visits were scheduled at baseline and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, efficacy was evaluated, and adverse reactions were recorded. Repeated measures analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to compare efficacy and safety between the 2 groups.Results:Before treatment, there was no significant difference in eczema area and severity index (EASI) , visual analogue scale (VAS) or investigator global assessment (IGA) scores between the 2 groups (all P < 0.05) . After 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, the response rate was significantly higher in the test group (86.67%[26/30], 93.33%[28/30], respectively) than in the control group (60.00%[18/30], 73.33%[22/30]; χ2=5.455, 4.320, respectively, both P < 0.05) . After 2 and 4 weeks of treatment, the remission rate of pruritus ( χ2=4.320, 4.022, respectively, both P < 0.05) and treatment success (IGA 0/1) rate ( χ2=6.667, 15.429, respectively, both P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the test group than in the control group. There was no drug-related adverse reactions in the 2 groups. Conclusion:Hydrocortisone butyrate cream combined with FORENéE skin cream dressing is safe and effective in the treatment of mild to moderate AD, and can be applied to clinical practice.

Objective To analyze the pathological diagnosis of patients with clinically diagnosed eczema,to describe the spectrum of skin diseases tending to be misdiagnosed as eczema,and to investigate factors associated with their misdiagnosis.Methods A retrospective study was performed on 400 patients who were clinically diagnosed as eczema and received pathological examination at the dermatology clinic of Peking University Third Hospital from August 2006 to April 2013.Skin biopsy specimens were re-reviewed for these patients,and pathological diagnosis was made in combination with clinical presentations.Results Of the 400 outpatients with clinically diagnosed eczema,110 (27.5％) were finally diagnosed as non-eczema skin diseases pathologically,including 16 cases of psoriasis,13 bullous pemphigoid (BP),11 lichen planus (LP),9 cutaneous amyloidosis,8 mycosis fungoides (MF),14 skin malignancies,and 39 other skin diseases.The highest misdiagnosis rate was observed in people aged 60 to 79 years (33.9％) and lesions at the genital sites (46.2％).Conclusions Many conditions tend to be misdiagnosed as eczema in clinic,including psoriasis,BP,LP,cutaneous amyloidosis,MF and skin malignancies.Misdiagnosis is rather frequent in elderly people and eczematous lesions in genital areas,and pathological examination should be taken actively for uncertain cases.

Although tumor immunotherapy has been proposed for many years,the consensus denoting it as an essential approach for fighting against cancer is reached only in recent years. Tumor immunotherapy can be categorized as active and passive ones. In order to successfully cure cancer,safe and efficient active immunotherapy is required. Dendritic cells (DCs)are not only the bridge linking innate and adaptive immunity,but also the key determinants of the quality of adaptive immunity:immunity versus immune tolerance. Therefore,the safe and efficient DC-based tumor-specific and broad-spectral tumor vaccine has an irreplaceable important position in tumor immunotherapy. Because of the high heterogeneity of DCs, the research on DC-based tumor vaccine has encountered a bottleneck. Here,we reviewed the progress in research on DC-based tumor vaccine and related problems needed to be resolved with the incorporation of our experiences.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of Qingpeng ointment for the treatment of asteatotic eczema and its effect on skin barrier function.Methods A self-controlled clinical study was performed.Totally,78 patients with asteatotic eczema symmetrically located on both lower extremities were enrolled into this study.The left and right lower extremities of these patients were treated with Qingpeng ointment (Qingpeng group) and hydrocortisone butyrate ointment (hydrocortisone butyrate group) respectively,twice a day for 4 consecutive weeks.At the end of treatment,therapeutic effect and skin barrier function were compared between the 2 groups.Results The response rate was significantly higher in the hydrocortisone butyrate group than in the Qingpeng group after 1-and 2-week treatment (week 1:58.97％ vs.39.74％,x2 =5.77,P ＜ 0.05;week 2:76.92％ vs.60.26％,x2 =5.03,P ＜ 0.05),but insignificantly different between the 2groups after 4-week treatment (80.77％ vs.87.18％,P ＞ 0.05).Compared with the hydrocortisone butyrate group,theQingpeng group showed significantly increased water content of the stratum corneum after 4-week treatment (P ＜ 0.05),and decreased transepidermal water loss after 2-and 4-week treatment (both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Qingpeng ointment is safe and effective for the treatment of asteatotic eczema with gradually increasing and stable effects,and also has a favoring effect on the restoration of skin barrier function.

Objective To estimate effects of Qingpeng ointment on skin barrier function,and to explore their potential mechanisms.Methods A total of 12 female volunteers with xerosis on the extensor surfaces of legs were enrolled into this study.All the volunteers were topically treated with Qingpeng ointment on the right leg (Qingpeng side) and its vehicle on the left leg (vehicle side) twice daily for 7 consecutive days.Skin barrier function-associated indexes including transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and the water content of the stratum corneum were measured before the treatment,after 3-and 7-day treatment separately.Thirty-six BALB/c female mice were randomly and equally divided into 6 groups:a blank control group receiving no induction or treatment,a model group induced by 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) on the back for 5 consecutive weeks,3 Qingpeng groups and a vehicle group induced by DNFB on the back for 5 consecutive weeks followed by topical treatment with different concentrations (50％,75％,100％) of Qingpeng ointment or its vehicle twice a day for 2 consecutive weeks.At the end of treatment,skin appearance of mice was observed with naked eyes,skinfold thickness and TEWL were measured.Then,all the mice were sacrificed,and skin tissue specimens were resected from the back of mice followed by histopathologic examination and immunohistochemical staining for the detection of filaggrin (FLG),involucrin (IVL) and kallikrein 7 (KLK7) expressions in the epidermis.Results After start of treatment,both the Qingpeng side and vehicle side showed significantly decreased TEWL on day 3 (t =2.651,2.996,respectively,both P＜ 0.05) and 7 (t =3.615,3.586,respectively,both P＜ 0.05),but increased water content of the stratum corneum on day 3 (t=9.029,5.830,respectively,both P＜ 0.001) and 7 (t =13.842,11.299,respectively,both P ＜ 0.001) compared with those before the treatment.However,no significant differences were observed in TEWL or the water content of the stratum corneum between the Qingpeng side and vehicle side at any of the time points (all P ＞ 0.05).In addition,there were no marked differences in mouse skin appearance,skinfold thickness or histopathologic manifestations between the vehicle group and model group,while the manifestations of dermatitis were attenuated to different extents in the three Qingpeng groups compared with the model group.Both TEWL and KLK7 expression levels were significantly decreased in the vehicle group and three Qingpeng groups compared with the model group (all P ＜ 0.05),but similar between the vehicle and Qingpeng groups (all P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The vehicle of Qingpeng ointment can improve skin barrier function.