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Background: Dandruff/seborrhoeic dermatitis is a common scalp condition that is characterized by flakes, pruritus and sometimes mild erythema. These symptoms reflect tissue level events that are poorly understood at the molecular level., Objectives: The purpose of this work was: (i) to compare gene expression profiles in subjects with dandruff vs. those of subjects without dandruff to determine the key physiological disruptions manifest in the condition; and (ii) to determine the effect on this profile of treatment with a shampoo containing potentiated zinc pyrithione (ZPT)., Methods: In study 1, scalp biopsies were taken from 16 normal subjects and from involved and uninvolved sites in 15 subjects with dandruff. In study 2, 30 subjects with dandruff were treated for 3 weeks with a commercial ZPT shampoo (n = 15) or a vehicle (n = 15), and scalp lesional biopsies were collected at baseline and end of study for transcriptomic analysis. RNA was extracted from all biopsies and Affymetrix gene chips were used to analyse transcriptomic profiles, followed by bioinformatic analysis., Results: Analysis of study 1 biopsies revealed more than 7000 individual probes differentially regulated in dandruff lesional skin relative to normal. Enriched Gene Ontology categories included: lipid metabolism, immune response, response to stimulus, apoptosis, cell proliferation, and epidermal development. The most striking feature of lesional skin relative to normal was the reciprocal expression of induced inflammatory genes and repressed lipid metabolism genes. Induced inflammatory genes were also enriched in dandruff uninvolved skin, suggesting the existence of predisposing factors associated with inflammation. Many genes increased in lesional skin were increased at the level of protein in stratum corneum samples (e.g. IL-1RA, S100A8, S100A9, S100A11, IL-8). Under conditions known to improve overall scalp condition, the ZPT shampoo treatment in study 2 produced a transcriptomic profile resembling that of normal scalp skin., Conclusions: These data provide novel insights into the nature of dandruff and the therapeutic action of potentiated ZPT-containing shampoo, and provide a basis to explore many new mechanistic questions related to these topics., (© 2012 The Authors. BJD © 2012 British Association of Dermatologists.)

The skin has an amazing array of complex interacting biological processes. Recent advances in investigational techniques now allow evaluation of these processes at the level of the gene, protein and metabolite. Sometimes collectively known as the omics, these fields of inquiry, known as genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, respectively, are yielding new and important insights into skin structure and processes, its responses to injury and age, and the mechanisms by which new interventions and compounds may work to improve the health and integrity of this crucial organ., (© 2012 The Authors. BJD © 2012 British Association of Dermatologists.)

The skin is not only the body's largest organ but is widely considered to be the sentinel organ of the human body as it is often the first line of defense from environmental insults. Acting as both an environmental sensor and guardian, the skin responds to external cues and helps us adapt to our surroundings in many ways, such as tanning to adapt to repeated ultraviolet (UV) exposure. In order to better understand the molecular events that occur as the skin adapts to its environment, we need a deeper understanding of how the genes in the cells comprising the skin are regulated and how this regulation leads to changes in biological response. Regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) ultimately results in changes in protein production, which is responsible for carrying out the physical and chemical reactions responsible for the skin's adaptation response. Each step in this cellular response is the subject of intense research. In fact, scientific sub-disciplines have developed around understanding each of these steps: genomics, proteomics and metabonomics. There are a myriad of applications for genomics in skin. Since capabilities, such as gene chips, provide fundamental molecular insights into skin cell biology that can be exploited for the development of new products, it is anticipated that genomics will continue to play an ever-increasing role in skin care.