Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disease that affects around 125 million people worldwide. Several studies concerning the gut microbiota composition and its role in disease pathogenesis recently demonstrated significant alterations among psoriatic patients. Certain parameters such as Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio or Psoriasis Microbiome Index were developed in order to distinguish between psoriatic and healthy individuals. The “leaky gut syndrome” and bacterial translocation is considered by some authors as a triggering factor for the onset of the disease, as it promotes chronic systemic inflammation. The alterations were also found to resemble those in inflammatory bowel diseases, obesity and certain cardiovascular diseases. Microbiota dysbiosis, depletion in SCFAs production, increased amount of produced TMAO, dysregulation of the pathways affecting the balance between lymphocytes populations seem to be the most significant findings concerning gut physiology in psoriatic patients. The gut microbiota may serve as a potential response-to-treatment biomarker in certain cases of biological treatment. Oral probiotics administration as well as fecal microbial transplantation were most reported in bringing health benefits to psoriatic patients. However, the issue of psoriatic bacterial gut composition, its role and healing potential needs further investigation. Here we reviewed the literature on the current state of the relationship between psoriasis and gut microbiome.

Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) can occur in 3–25% of patients receiving radiocontrast material (RCM) despite appropriate preventive measures. Often patients with an atherosclerotic vasculature have to receive large doses of RCM. Thus, animal studies to uncover the exact pathomechanism of CI-AKI are needed. Sensitive and specific histologic end-points are lacking; thus in the present review we summarize the histologic appearance of different rodent models of CI-AKI. Single injection of RCM causes overt renal damage only in rabbits. Rats and mice need an additional insult to the kidney to establish a clinically manifest CI-AKI. In this review we demonstrate that the concentrating ability of the kidney may be responsible for species differences in sensitivity to CI-AKI. The most commonly held theory about the pathomechanism of CI-AKI is tubular cell injury due to medullary hypoxia. Thus, the most common additional insult in rats and mice is some kind of ischemia. The histologic appearance is tubular epithelial cell (TEC) damage; however severe TEC damage is only seen if RCM is combined by additional ischemia. TEC vacuolization is the first sign of CI-AKI, as it is a consequence of RCM pinocytosis and lysosomal fusion; however it is not sensitive as it does not correlate with renal function and is not specific as other forms of TEC damage also cause vacuolization. In conclusion, histopathology alone is insufficient and functional parameters and molecular biomarkers are needed to closely monitor CI-AKI in rodent experiments.

There is a growing quantity of evidence on how skin and gut microbiome composition impacts the course of various dermatological diseases. The strategies involving the modulation of bacterial composition are increasingly in the focus of research attention. The aim of the present review was to analyze the literature available in PubMed (MEDLINE) and EMBASE databases on the topic of microbiome modulation in skin diseases. The effects and possible mechanisms of action of probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics in dermatological conditions including atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, chronic ulcers, seborrheic dermatitis, burns and acne were analyzed. Due to the very limited number of studies available regarding the topic of microbiome modulation in all skin diseases except for AD, the authors decided to also include case reports and original studies concerning oral administration and topical application of the pro-, pre- and synbiotics in the final analysis. The evaluated studies mostly reported significant health benefits to the patients or show promising results in animal or ex vivo studies. However, due to a limited amount of research and unambiguous results, the topic of microbiome modulation as a therapeutic approach in skin diseases still warrants further investigation.

Background: Numerous generic, skin‐ and disease‐specific health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) measures are available for patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Yet, robust psychometric evidence is lacking in many aspects of these outcome measures.Objectives: We sought to determine convergent and known‐groups validity of multiple generic and skin‐specific HRQoL measures and to identify predictors of impaired HRQoL in patients with HS.Methods: Between 2017 and 2019, a multicentre cross‐sectional study was carried out involving 200 consecutive HS patients. HRQoL outcomes included the EQ‐5D‐5L, EQ visual analogue scale (EQ VAS), Skindex‐16, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and DLQI‐Relevant (DLQI‐R). Disease severity was graded by HS‐Physician’s Global Assessment (HS‐PGA) scale and the Modified Sartorius scale (MSS).Results: Overall, 77%, 56%, 51%, 46% and 28% reported problems in the pain/discomfort, usual activities, anxiety/depression, mobility and self‐care dimensions of EQ‐5D‐5L. Mean ± SD EQ VAS, DLQI and DLQI‐R scores were 64.29 ± 22.68, 11.75 ± 8.11 and 12.19 ± 8.33, respectively. Skindex‐16 responses indicated that the emotional burden of HS (64.55 ± 29.28) far exceeded those of functioning (49.40 ± 34.70) and physical symptoms (46.74 ± 29.36). EQ‐5D‐5L, EQ VAS, DLQI, DLQI‐R and Skindex‐16 total scores had moderate or strong correlations with each other (range: |0.487| to |0.993|), weak or moderate correlations with HS‐PGA (|0.350| to |0.433|) and weak correlations with MSS (|0.324| to |0.389|). DLQI‐R slightly outperformed DLQI both in terms of convergent and known‐groups validity. Being female, lower education level, more severe disease and genital involvement were associated with worse HRQoL (P < 0.05).Conclusion: This study provides high‐quality evidence that among skin‐specific outcomes, the DLQI, DLQI‐R and Skindex‐16, and among generic instruments, the EQ‐5D‐5L are suitable to be used in HS patients. In future research, we recommend the use of existing well‐validated HRQoL tools instead of developing new measures for each study. The development of composite measures that combine physician‐ and patient‐reported outcomes is not supported by evidence in HS.[Correction added on 25 July 2020, after first online publication: in the Abstract section, the ± signs were missing and have been added to this version.]