No abstract available.
Humans* ; Sebum*

Omphalith generally consists of keratinous materials and sebum. It gradually forms a stone-like hard, dark brown to a black mass in elderly persons with deep umbilical depression and not clean umbilicus. A 75 years old male noticed a brownish black nodule on the umbilical depression 2 weeks ago. He did not try to remove it. This nodule gradually became to project from umbilical depression accompanied with intermittent pain. Removed specimen was brownish black stonelike on projecting polypoid lesion, but in umbilical depression, yellowish brown and not so hard. Histopathological examination showed a small quantity of melanin granules, but no nuclear components of cells.
Aged ; Depression ; Humans ; Male ; Melanins ; Sebum ; Umbilicus

BACKGROUND: In the last few decades, there has been a substantial increase in the population of aged people. Aging skin is a common concern for many people these days. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of cosmetics containing Ascidian tunic in reducing wrinkles. METHODS: Cream containing the Ascidian tunic was applied to right lateral epicanthal areas of 30 subjects for 8 weeks. As control group, a placebo which does not contain the Ascidian tunic was applied to the left lateral epicanthal areas of the subjects. Skin barrier function was evaluated and skin replicas were molded on both epicanthal areas every 4 weeks. The changes of the skin wrinkles were analyzed with skin visiometer. RESULTS: In comparison of the changes between groups treated with placebo and Ascidian tunic, there was statistically significant differences in hydration and sebum secretion. But there were no statistically significant differences in the result of R-value by visiometer. CONCLUSION: The treatment of Ascidian tunic extract seems to be partially effective in improving wrinkles, but further study is required.
Aged ; Aging ; Cosmetics ; Fungi ; Humans ; Sebum ; Skin ; Urochordata

BACKGROUND: Glycolic acid and Jessner's solution have been popular agents for superficial chemical peeling to treat facial acne. Increased sebum secretion is one of the major etiological factors of acne. There has been no report to compare effects on sebum secretion in patients with facial acne between glycolic acid peeling and Jessner's solution peeling. OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects on sebum secretion in patients with facial acne after glycolic acid peeling or Jessner's solution peeling. METHODS: Twenty patients with facial acne vulgaris were studied. Eight patients were treated with 30% glycolic acid peeling and twelve patients with Jessner's solution peeling. Before and 2 weeks after the treatment, the sebum levels of forehead, nose, center of chin and both cheeks were measured by using Sebumeter(R). RESULTS: The sebum levels were not significantly changed after 30% glycolic acid peeling. After Jessner's solution peeling, the total average, and average of T-zone of sebum levels, were reduced significantly (p<0.05). The high-sebum-level area was defined as the area where the sebum level before treatment was high. The average of sebum levels of the high-sebum-level area was reduced significantly (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: 30% glycolic acid peeling did not affect sebum secretion, but Jessner's solution peeling reduced sebum secretion in patients with facial acne significantly, especially on the areas where sebum secretion was high.
Acne Vulgaris* ; Cheek ; Chin ; Forehead ; Humans ; Nose ; Sebum*

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of methods have been developed to determine skin properties in an objective way. Variable atmospheric conditions or climatic changes influence the physiological reaction process occurring in skin. Clinical studies investigating skin conditions are often performed through different seasonal environments. Therefore, physiological stabilization course in a standard environment is necessary to exclude climatic influence before measuring skin physiological parameters. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate stabilization course of several skin physiological parameters after exposure to summer and winter conditions. METHODS: Fifteen healthy volunteers (9 males, 6 females) with normal skin, of age 20 to 35 (mean 25.3) years were included in the study. After 30 minutes exposure to summer or winter climatic conditions, the volunteers stayed in the standard environment for 30 minutes. Skin surface temperature, skin color, transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and sebum were measured every 10 minutes in the standard room. RESULTS: Skin surface temperature stabilized after 20 minutes on forehead and 30 minutes on cheek irrespective of the season. Skin color (L*, a*, b*) stabilized after 20 minutes in standard environment irrespective of the season and location of measurement. TEWL stabilized after 10 minutes and sebum stabilized after 20 minutes in standard environment irrespective of the season and location of measurement. CONCLUSION: To obtain stabilized values of skin surface temperature, skin color, TEWL and sebum irrespective of season and measurement location, 30 minutes of stabilization course is needed.
Cheek ; Forehead ; Humans ; Male ; Seasons ; Sebum ; Skin ; Skin Temperature

BACKGROUND: Although sebum secretion is crucial for acne development, acne lesion distribution is not always similar to the topographic differences of sebum secretion. OBJECTIVE: To analyze whether sebum secretion affects acne development and distribution and to assess other factors possibly influencing the relationship between acne and sebum secretion. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study included 67 acne patients and 50 controls. Acne patients were divided into 3 groups based on acne lesion distribution: T-zone dominant, U-zone dominant, and mixed groups. The secreted sebum level in each zone of acne patients was compared with that of controls. We also conducted correlation analysis between secreted sebum level and acne number, depending on the facial zone. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between acne patients and controls regarding age and sex ratio. The U-zone dominant group showed increased sebum levels compared with controls in the U-zone and whole face, but a similar result was not obtained in the T-zone dominant group. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the number of lesions and secreted sebum level in the U-zone, but not in the T-zone. Further, there was a more significant relation in the U-zone of male and young patients. CONCLUSION: We found that increased sebum secretion compared with the condition may affect acne development, especially in the U-zone. Sex and age may also influence the relationship between acne and increased sebum secretion. Acne lesion distribution may vary from patient to patient because sebum secretion affects acne differently depending on multiple factors.
Acne Vulgaris ; Humans ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Sebum ; Sex Ratio

Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disease of hair follicle sebaceous gland units,with an incidence of up to 85% in adolescents.The pathogenesis is closely related to androgen,sebum secretion,lipophilic microbial infection,and immune-inflammatory reaction.This article reviews the signaling pathways related to acne from the aspects of inflammatory signaling pathways and sebum secretion pathways.
Acne Vulgaris ; Adolescent ; Humans ; Sebaceous Glands ; Sebum ; Signal Transduction

BACKGROUND: A device using radiofrequency and infrared has been used as a nonablative method for producing noninvasive skin tightening. However, the method combining radiofrequency and infrared light has not been used widely for treating both skin wrinkling and tightening. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of a new nonablative Korean medical device, AntiLax(TM) (Jeisys Medical, Seoul, Korea), which uses both radiofrequency and infrared light, on facial wrinkling and laxity. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with facial laxity and wrinkles were enrolled in this study. Three patients failed to complete the three treatment sessions spaced 4 weeks apart so, ultimately, 30 patients completed the scheduled procedure. Serial photographs of the patients were obtained during the study period. A final clinical assessment was made 3 months after the last treatment. Punch biopsies of the treatment areas were obtained 1 week before treatment and 1 month after the last treatment in five patients who agreed to undergo skin biopsies. RESULTS: Doctors' assessments of the photographs taken before and 3 months after the treatment observed marked differences in the effect of treatment on skin laxity, according to location, but no differences in the effect of treatment on skin wrinkling, according to location. The efficacy of treatment of both skin laxity and wrinkling increased with the number of treatments. Patient satisfaction scores paralleled the clinical improvements observed. Secondary benefits reported by patients 3 months after treatment included decreased pore size, reduced sebum secretion, and improved skin texture. The side effects were mild and limited to transient erythema, edema, and rare vesicle formation. Histopathologically, there were increased, thickened collagen fibers 1 month after the last treatment, as compared to pretreatment. However, quantitative morphometric methods are needed to evaluate the histological changes objectively. CONCLUSION: Noninvasive radiofrequency combined with infrared light appears to be a safe, effective method for treating skin laxity and facial wrinkles.
Biopsy ; Collagen ; Edema ; Erythema ; Humans ; Light ; Patient Satisfaction ; Sebum ; Skin ; Skin Aging

BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is one of the most common dermatologic diseases and the main method of treatment is antibiotics and retinoids. However, many patients experience a need for a different treatment because of the transient effect and severe adverse effects. The study reported herein evaluated the effect and safety on acne vulgaris of 805 nm diode laser and topical Indocyanine green (ICG). OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the efficacy of the near-infrared diode laser phototherapy in combination with topical application of ICG in the treatment of acne vulgaris. METHODS: Twenty-three volunteers with varying degrees of acne were enrolled in the study. Half of the face was stained by ICG. After 15 minutes, the whole face was irradiated by 805 nm diode laser. The procedure was carried out two times a week for 4 weeks. Inflammatory, non-inflammatory acne lesions were counted and sebum levels of both cheeks were measured. RESULTS: The mean reduction of the inflammatory lesion counts was 43% in the ICG-diode laser group. The mean clearance of non-inflammatory lesions was 25% in the ICG-diode laser group. Significant reduction of acne lesions were observed in ICG-diode laser group compared to diode laser group (p<0.05). The adverse effects were negligible on both sides of the face. CONCLUSION: ICG and diode laser therapy is effective in the treatment of moderate to severe acne vulgaris, and none of significant adverse effects were observed.
Acne Vulgaris ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cheek ; Humans ; Indocyanine Green ; Lasers, Semiconductor ; Photochemotherapy ; Phototherapy ; Retinoids ; Sebum

BACKGROUND: Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is a multifactorial disease; Malassezia species play an important role in its pathogenesis. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether a cream containing climbazole/piroctone olamine (C/P cream), antifungal agents with expected efficacy against Malassezia species, could improve SD symptoms. METHODS: We instructed 24 patients with mild-to-moderate SD to apply the C/P cream and emollient cream on the right and left sides of the face, respectively, every morning and evening for 4 weeks. The casual sebum level (measured with Sebumeter®; Courage & Khazaka Electronic GmbH, Germany) and the extent of erythema (measured with Mexameter®; Courage & Khazaka Electronic GmbH) on the face were measured at baseline and after 4 weeks. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined to demonstrate the antifungal activity of the C/P cream. RESULTS: The casual sebum level and erythema were measured at week 4, and the median values demonstrated a quantitative improvement on the C/P cream-treated right side of the face compared to the emollient cream-treated left side. For the C/P cream, the MICs were 0.625, 5, 0.625, and 2.5 mg/ml for Malassezia restricta, M. globosa, M. sympodialis, and M. slooffiae, respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on the reduced casual sebum level and extent of erythema, the antifungal activity of C/P cream against Malassezia species seems useful for the treatment of mild to moderate SD.
Antifungal Agents ; Clinical Study* ; Courage ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic* ; Erythema ; Humans ; Malassezia ; Sebum