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Background Cutaneous blood flow plays an important role in the thermoregulation, oxygen supply, and nutritional support necessary to maintain the skin. However, there is little evidence for a link between blood flow and skin physiology. Therefore, we conducted surveys of healthy volunteers to determine the relationship(s) between dry skin properties and cutaneous vascular function. Methods Water content of the stratum corneum, transepidermal water loss, and visual dryness score were investigated as dry skin parameters. Cutaneous blood flow in the resting state, the recovery rate (RR) of skin temperature on the hand after a cold-stress test, and the responsiveness of facial skin blood flow to local cooling were examined as indices of cutaneous vascular functions. The relationships between dry skin parameters and cutaneous vascular functions were assessed. Results The RR correlated negatively with the visual dryness score of skin on the leg but correlated positively with water content of the stratum corneum on the arm. No significant correlation between the resting state of blood flow and dry skin parameters was observed. In both the face and the body, deterioration in skin dryness from summer to winter was significant in subjects with low RR. The RR correlated well with the responsiveness of facial skin blood flow to local cooling, indicating that the RR affects systemic dry skin conditions. Conclusions These results suggest that the RR but not blood flow at the resting state is associated with dry skin conditions and is involved in skin homeostasis during seasonal environmental changes.

There has been increasing concern regarding the cosmetic aspects of skin in recent years. Computational simulation can be useful in understanding the mechanism underlying skin formation. The bottom of the epidermis is called the basal layer and is very undulation. In this study, we focus on the basal layer formation. We created a particle model, which forms an undulation basal layer and regenerates the basal layer formation by numerical simulation. At first, two-dimensional basal layer formation without epidermal turnover was simulated. The results showed film shape changes and the stability, as a layer in the process of long-time with an increase and decrease of basal cells. Next, the model was applied to three-dimensional basal layer formation with epidermal turnover. As the structure of the basal layer was deformed, the upper structure of the epidermis comprising the cells divided from the basal layer also became irregular. The simulation results accurately represented and reproduced the three-dimensional basal layer formation and epidermis turnover process., 2nd Conference on Advances in Prevention and Treatment of Cancer (CAPTC 2016), March 18-20, 2016, Los Angeles, USA

Coffee polyphenols (CPPs) derived from coffee beans have beneficial effects on blood pressure and vascular endothelial function. In addition, CPPs suppress ultraviolet light induced erythema. However, the effects of CPPs on dry skin and cutaneous vascular function have not been clarified. We investigated the effects of CPPs on dry skin and the recovery rate (RR) of skin temperature after a cold-stress test as a measure of vascular function in subjects with visible scaliness in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study. The subjects were divided into two groups, the CPP group and the Placebo group. In the CPP group, the subjects ingested a beverage containing 297.8 mg CPPs every day for 4 wk. The degree of skin dryness was assessed quantitatively using a Visioscan to evaluate skin scaliness and smoothness. A subjective evaluation using a visual analog scale (VAS) of skin smoothness was also used. As a result, the scaliness and smoothness of cheek skin was significantly improved after 4 wk in the CPP group compared to the Placebo group. The improvements of the VAS score on 'skin smoothness' and the RR were also observed in the CPP group but the difference was not statistically significant. However, when the CPP group was divided into subgroups of high RR and low RR, the improvement of the RR was significant in the low RR subgroup. In conclusion, our results suggest that CPPs improve skin scaliness and play a role in cutaneous blood flow regulation after cold stress.

Skin is the largest organ of the human body. In recent years, concern regarding the cosmetics area has increased, and research studies on anti-aging therapy or cosmetics have been rapidly conducted. Skin cells are not only changing its shape but also its physical properties during the epidermal skin turnover process. Computational simulation can be useful in further understanding the mechanisms of skin formation. We propose a particle model that can handle complex biological phenomena, including cell interactions and is a suitable method for simulating skin formation. The particle model was applied to simulate three-dimensional skin formation accompanied by proliferation and cornification of skin cells. The simulation results represented and reproduced the epidermal skin turnover phenomenon.

A case umbilical metastasis from the cancer of stomach was reported. The patient was a sixty-three years old female. She had umbilical pain associated with a mass. An operation was performed for the removal of the umbilical tumor and the diagnosis of metastas from the stomach cancer was made by histological finding.