Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of the hair follicle-sebaceous gland unit and is the most common skin disorder worldwide. Although it can occur at any age, it predominantly affects young individuals, manifesting as comedones, papules, pustules, cysts, and nodules, primarily in the sebaceous-rich areas of the face, often in a symmetrical distribution. The development of acne vulgaris is believed to result from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, including sun exposure, skincare habits, diet, sleep patterns, and psychological stress, all of which can induce or exacerbate the condition. The pathogenesis of acne vulgaris involves androgen-induced sebaceous gland hyperplasia, excessive sebum production, abnormal follicular duct keratinization, microbial colonization, and immune-inflammatory responses. Historically, treatment has focused on regulating sebum production, improving follicular keratinization, and providing antibacterial and anti-inflammatory therapies, with less attention given to repairing the skin barrier. Treatment outcomes have often been suboptimal, with frequent recurrences, high incidence of skin sensitivity, and significant economic and psychological burdens on patients. This review explores the mechanisms of skin barrier impairment in acne vulgaris and discusses strategies for its repair, offering new perspectives for the clinical management of acne.

Low-grade chronic inflammation without obvious infection is defined as “inflammageing” and a key driver of skin ageing. Although the importance of modulating inflammageing for treating skin diseases and restoring cutaneous homeostasis is increasingly being recognized. However, the mechanisms underlying skin inflammageing, particularly those associated with natural treatments, have not been systematically elucidated. This review explores the signaling pathways associated with skin inflammageing, as well as the natural plants and compounds that directly or indirectly target these pathways. Nine signaling pathways and 60 plants/constituents related to skin anti-inflammageing are discussed, exploring plant mechanisms to mitigate skin inflammageing. Common natural plants with anti-inflammageing activity are detailed by active ingredients, mechanisms, therapeutic potential, and quantitative effects on skin inflammageing modulation. This review strengthens our understanding of these botanical ingredients as natural interventions against skin inflammageing and provides directions for future research.

Nowadays, plant invasion has become a global ecological threat to local biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Spartina alterniflora encroaches on the ecological niches of local species and changes the soil’s nutrient cycle. However, few comprehensive assessments focus on the effects of S. alterniflora invasion. Here, we investigated how soil sulfur changed with spatiotemporal variation and life forms of native species after S. alterniflora invasion and speculated the possible mechanism of the sulfur increase based on the references. The invasion of S. alterniflora increased soil total sulfur by 57.29% and phytotoxic sulfide by 193.29%. In general, the invasion of S. alterniflora enhanced the total plant biomass and soil nutrients, e.g., soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and soil microbial biomass carbon, further increasing soil sulfur content. The sulfur accumulation caused by S. alterniflora might result in the poisoning of native species. Thus, we hypothesized that the success of S. alterniflora invasion was closely connected with soil sulfur, especially toxic sulfide. Our study suggests that researchers should give more attention to the correlation between S. alterniflora invasion and the soil sulfur increase. More research is needed to investigate the mechanisms of the successful invasion by accumulating phytotoxic sulfide.

Purpose The Spartina alterniflora invasion across the southeast coast in China significantly reduced vegetation diversity and generated associated ecological problems. Sulfur (S) is a vital nutrient, while sulfide is phytotoxic and the impact of S. alterniflora invasion on soil S cycle remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impacts of S. alterniflora invasion on the S cycle and associated soil microbial communities. Methods Both field investigation and lab-scale experiments were conducted, analyzing soil sulfide and sulfate contents, soil properties over four seasons in the Jiuduansha Wetland of Shanghai, China, the high-throughput sequencing of soil microbial communities, S cycle-related functional genes and seed germination experiments. Results The contents of sulfide, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total nitrogen (TN) in the bulk soil of S. alterniflora invaded area were higher than those in the native species S. mariqueter habitat and bare mudflat soils. Spartina alterniflora invasion increased the abundance of the Nitrospiraceae and Desulfarculaceae families and reduced that of Hydrogenophilaceae. The relative abundance of the SO₄²⁻ reduction functional genes (dsrA + dsrB) in the soil was increased after S. alterniflora invasion, while that of the S oxidation functional genes (yedZ + soxY) in the soil was reduced. Seed germination experiments with different sodium sulfide concentrations (Na₂S) revealed that the phytotoxicity of sulfide caused more lethal damage to S. mariqueter than to S. alterniflora. Conclusion The S. alterniflora invasion significantly increased SOC and TN contents and reduced the abundance of sulfur-oxidizing functional genes, which led to the accumulation of soil sulfide.