Background: Seborrheic dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease that affects 1–3% of the general population. The Malassezia species has been implicated as the main causative agent; however, the bacterial flora of the skin may also play role in the etiopathogenesis. Therefore, we investigated the most common bacterial agent of the skin flora of patients with seborrheic dermatitis. Materials and Methods: Fifty-one patients with seborrheic dermatitis and 50 healthy individuals are included in this study. Sterile cotton swabs were rubbed on the scalp of the participants for bacterial culture. Colonial morphology was identified with gram stain and catalase test. Results: Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from 25 (49%) patients with seborrheic dermatitis and 10 (20%) healthy individuals within the control group. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were isolated from 24 (47.1%) patients with seborrheic dermatitis and 17 (34%) healthy individuals within the control group. Diphtheroids were present in 2 (3.9%) patients and 1 (2%) subject within the control group. Gram-negative bacilli were present only in 1 (2%) patient. Hemolytic streptococci and bacilli were identified in 1 (2%) subject from each group. Colonization of coagulase-negative staphylococci, diphtheroids, gram-negative bacilli, hemolytic streptococci, and bacillus did not differ between patients and healthy controls. However, S. aureus colonization was significantly more common in patients with seborrheic dermatitis than in healthy controls. Conclusion: Within this study we revealed that S. aureus colonization was significantly higher among the patients. Therefore, we propose that, in addition to the Malassezia species, S. aureus may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of seborrheic dermatitis.

Background: Quality of life (QoL) and sleep, which are essential for well-being in the mental, physical, and socioeconomic domains, are impaired in psoriatic patients. However, the exact role of the clinical subtype of psoriasis in this aspect remains poorly studied. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate differences in QoL impairment and sleeping problems in patients suffering from various clinical subtypes of psoriasis and to evaluate the effects of pruritus on QoL. Methods: This cross-sectional, multicenter study included 295 eligible subjects with diagnosed psoriasis. Each patient was examined with the use of the same questionnaire. Measures included predominant subtype of psoriasis, disease severity, pruritus scores, patients’ health-related QoL and the incidence of sleep disturbance. Results: The QoL of most patients was decreased irrespectively of clinical psoriasis subtype, however, the most impaired QoL was in patients with erythrodermic psoriasis. The majority of patients reported sleep disturbances caused by pruritus, albeit there was no relevant differences between analyzed subgroups in this aspect of patients’ well-being. Pruritus was an important factor determining QoL and sleeping problems in the studied population. Conclusions: Identifying the most disturbing area of life and recognizing the most bothersome subjective symptoms of psoriasis are pivotal to focusing on the most relevant treatment goal and achieving therapeutic success.

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic cutaneous disorder with underlying systemic inflammation. The systemic immune inflammation (SII) and systemic inflammation response indexes (SIRI) are novel biomarkers that indicate systemic inflammation. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of biological agent treatment on SII and SIRI in psoriasis patients. Methods: Between April 2019 and October 2022, SII and SIRI were retrospectively evaluated in patients with psoriasis before and three months after the initiation of biological agents. Results: This study included 220 patients, 101 females and 119 males. SIRI was significantly higher in male patients compared to females (P < 0.001). Although not statistically significant, SII and SIRI were higher in obese patients, patients with severe psoriasis, longer disease duration, nail involvement and patients who received previous biological agent treatment. SII was also higher in patients with hypertension, diabetes, hepatic steatosis, depression and coronary artery disease (P = 0.801, P = 0.752, P = 0.706, P = 0.079, P = 0.861, respectively), whereas SIRI was higher in patients with diabetes and depression (P = 0.263, P = 0.777, respectively). Both SII and SIRI statistically significantly decreased after treatment with adalimumab, infliximab, ixekizumab, secukinumab, ustekinumab and risankizumab. Conclusions: SII and SIRI may indicate the severity of psoriasis as well as SII may be associated with psoriatic arthritis, hypertension, hepatic steatosis and coronary artery disease in patients with psoriasis. There is no consensus on the biomarkers that can be used to create an optimized treatment strategy in psoriasis. Therefore, SII and SIRI may be helpful in making the choice of treatment and in the follow-up of patients with psoriasis treated with biological agents.

Introduction Various factors like physiological and emotional stress, drugs and nutritional deficiencies can result in hair loss. Results of laboratory tests examining the underlying aetiology of hair loss vary in patients. Aim We aimed to compare the serum levels of ferritin, folate,...

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease present in about 3% of the world’s population. The clinical symptoms manifest diversely, therefore one can distinguish several subtypes of psoriasis. The majority of patients with psoriasis experience pruritus, which is an unpleasant sensation that decreases patients’ quality of life. The knowledge on pruritus in different subtypes of psoriasis is limited. We have performed a cross-sectional, prospective, and multicenter study to evaluate the relationship between clinical subtypes of psoriasis (large-plaque, nummular, guttate, palmoplantar, inverse, erythrodermic, palmoplantar pustular, generalized pustular psoriasis, and psoriasis of the scalp) and the prevalence, intensity, and clinical manifestation of itch. We introduced a questionnaire assessing various aspects of pruritus to a total of 254 patients. Out of these, 42 were excluded. Pruritus was present in 92.9% of the remaining patients and its prevalence did not depend on the clinical subtype. A correlation between the severity of psoriasis and the intensity of itch was explicitly noticeable in palmoplantar pustular psoriasis and scalp psoriasis (p < 0.05). The itch sensation was individual and differed among subtypes of psoriasis. In conclusion, pruritus is a frequent phenomenon, and its presentation is different in various subtypes of psoriasis.