John Erich Oblong

Hair Growth Parameters in Pre- and Postmenopausal Women

Women who undergo menopause have a cessation of ovarian estrogen production. This dramatic hormonal alteration is known to have significant effects on the skin and cutaneous appendages. As our understanding of the molecular and hormonal controls on the folliculo-sebaceous unit has grown, there has been renewed interest in the role of estrogens in modulating hair growth. Specifically, the relatively recent discovery of estrogen receptor beta has broadened and redefined prior concepts of estrogen activity and signaling. In a cohort of pre- and postmenopausal women without alopecia, a modified phototrichogram was used to measure hair density, growth rate, and percentage anagen. Optical fiber diameter analysis (OFDA) was used to determine hair diameters. Our aim was to determine whether there are any changes in hair characteristics and hair growth parameters that correlate with menopausal status. Postmenopausal women had significant changes, mainly in the frontal scalp as compared to premenopausal women. These changes included lower frontal scalp percent anagen hairs, growth rates, and hair diameters. Further study of hair changes in response to menopause provides an important opportunity for identification of treatments, targets, and strategies that may significantly benefit women.

The evolving role of the NAD+/nicotinamide metabolome in skin homeostasis, cellular bioenergetics, and aging

Human skin is exposed to daily environmental insults, particularly solar radiation, that triggers a range of molecular responses. These perturbations to the normal homeostatic state can lead to cellular dysfunction and, ultimately, impacts tissue integrity and accelerates skin aging (photoaging). One of the responses is increased oxidative stress which has been shown to disrupt cellular bioenergetics. This can be detected by depletion of the nucleotide energy metabolites NAD+ and ATP as both an acute transient decrease and, over time, a more permanent chronic reduction due in part to cumulative damage of mitochondria. NAD+ and its primary precursor nicotinamide have been known for some time to impact skin homeostasis based on linkages to dietary requirements, treatment of various inflammatory conditions, photoaging, and prevention of cancer. Cellular NAD+ pools are known to be lower in aged skin and treatment with nicotinamide is hypothesized to restore these levels, thereby mitigating cellular bioenergetics dysfunction. In dermal fibroblasts, nicotinamide is able to protect against oxidative stress to glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation as well as increase mitochondrial efficiency via sirtuin-dependent selective mitophagy. Recent research has found that NAD+ cellular pools are more dynamic than previously thought, oscillating in tandem with free nicotinamide, and serves as a regulatory point and feedback loop in cellular metabolism regulation, maintenance of mitochondrial efficiency, and circadian rhythmicity. Since UV-induced oxidative stress in skin can disrupt these processes, continued molecular understanding of the role of NAD+ and nicotinamide in skin biology is important to identify interventions that would help maintain its normal homeostatic functions and efficient cellular bioenergetics.

Male skin care: Shaving and moisturization needs

Historically, most cosmetic and medical cosmetic research has been focused on the female consumer. Advancements in the development of grooming instruments as well as changing consumer habits and attitudes toward male cosmetic skin care needs support the need to develop a deeper understanding of male skin biology and how that can be used to improve the quality of life relative to societal interactions. Male skin biology has been found to have unique properties that are distinct from females and have a significant impact on the way males groom and maintain their overall appearance. Research to date has found that male skin has a different response profile to such environmental insults as UV, heat, and stress that is based not on just differences in cosmetic or dermatological product usage but also on underlying biological differences. These differences are discussed with the implications to a broader understanding of male facial skin care needs that spans from daily grooming practices to overall health status that impacts higher incidence rate of skin cancer among males. This highlights that male skin care has a holistic need to ensure proper grooming and sunscreen moisturizer usage.

Population level rhythms in human skin: implications for circadian medicine

Skin is the largest organ in the body and serves important barrier, regulatory, and sensory functions. Like other tissues, skin is subject to temporal fluctuations in physiological responses under both homeostatic and stressed states. To gain insight into these fluctuations, we investigated the role of the circadian clock in the transcriptional regulation of epidermis using a hybrid experimental design, where a limited set of human subjects (n=20) were sampled throughout the 24 h cycle and a larger population (n=219) were sampled once. By looking at pairwise correlations of core clock genes in 298 skin samples, we found a robust circadian oscillator in skin at the population level. Encouraged by this, we used CYCLOPS to reconstruct the temporal order of all samples and identified hundreds of rhythmically-expressed genes at the population level in human skin. We compared these results with published time-series skin data from mouse and show strong concordance in circadian phase across species for both transcripts and pathways. Further, like blood, skin is readily accessible and a potential source of biomarkers. Using ZeitZeiger, we identified a biomarker set for human skin that is capable of reporting circadian phase to within 3 h from a single sample. In summary, we show rhythms in human skin that persist at the population scale and a path to develop robust single-sample circadian biomarkers. One Sentence Summary Human epidermis shows strong circadian rhythms at the population scale and provides a better source for developing robust, single-sample circadian phase biomarkers than human blood.

Removal of Unwanted Facial Hair

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the overall contribution of facial hair to the perception of beauty, the biology of facial hair, and the current methods of removal with emphasis on laser technologies, as well as some future trends for removal of unwanted facial hair. Facial hair represents a significant psychological burden for many women around the world. Although excessive facial hair is often associated with disease states such as polycystic ovaries and hormonal imbalance, the range of facial hair from a vellus to terminal state is commonly found among women with no underlying hormonal etiology. Facial hair in women is perceived as unfeminine and unhealthy, and is associated with aging. In addition, women are often not only bothered by the presence of facial hair but also frustrated with the removal process. There are strong emotive responses as a result of facial hair that include lack of self-confidence, shamefulness, and being uncomfortable in social and intimate situations. For these reasons, among others, the management and removal of female facial hair represents an unmet global consumer need.

Wrinkles: Cosmetics, Drugs, and Energy-Based Systems

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the few options available, with a focus upon technologies that can significantly impact wrinkles. The numerous technological advances have allowed the professional to be able to provide to patients significant transformations with reduced negative side effects and at lower costs. Cosmetics are products designed to provide an appearance benefit to consumers; these do not provide the same efficacy as prescription drugs per se but fill a meaningful need for consumers and are readily available to the world consumer in their respective marketplaces. As a starting premise, traditional moisturizers in and of themselves are able to have some modest effect on reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by hydrating and plumping the skin, but these effects can be transient and are definitely weak in overall robustness. Retinoids are topical prescription drugs that were originally approved for treating acne (Retin-A), and subsequently approved for treating photodamaged skin, including fine lines and wrinkles. Vitamins have been used extensively in cosmetic products for some time. One of the relatively newer entrants is niacinamide. Niacinamide has shown the ability to elicit a range of effects including reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, appearance of evening skin tone, reduction in pigmentation, and improvement in skin barrier.

Skin Biology: Understanding Biological Targets for Improving Appearance

Publisher Summary This chapter provides a general overview of skin physiology and biochemical processes that regulate skin health and appearance. In addition, the changes that take place in skin as a function of aging and environmental insults from chronic UV damage are described. The human skin is the bodys largest organ and serves critical functions such as acting as the first line of defense from daily exposure to environmental insults (ranging from microorganisms to irradiation to pollutants), helping to regulate the bodys internal core temperature and water content, as well as providing rudimentary support and sensory interface with the outside world. This totally integrated structure serves the bodys unique needs for maintaining its integrity, functionality, and defenses from the environment. However, in this capacity, the skin undergoes some of the most challenging conditions in the body, and its ability to respond to these challenges highlights the unique properties that it possesses. The morphology of skin is comprised of two primary layers of viable tissue that covers nearly the entire surface of the body. These layers include the epidermis and dermis interspersed by a basement membrane, all of which reside on a subcutaneous fat layer or hypodermis. Residing in the skin are numerous structural appendages, including the hair follicle, eccrine, and sebaceous glands as well as capillary networks.