Gallo's theory and resources

[TheMediumDog]

Though bear in mind while you were doing that I was watching Come Dine With Me in my underpants. So you have to ask, is it all worth it?

Yeah not having a TV can really get you into some mischief. Who knows where it will all end up. There'll probably be tears.

[TheMediumDog]

Totally interesting about the cause of our flakey skin!

You know what, I think that, at least in my case, what is going on is that there is an imbalance of bacteria on the skin (due, in my case, to antibiotics). And therefore, there's some bacteria/other microorganism around which shouldn't be there, and the skin is desperately shedding in order to try and get rid of it (because constantly turning over new skin is a defence mechanism).

Either that, or some pathogenic bacteria is producing an irritant which is making the skin over-shed. And doing this, because this makes a nice home for it - lots of dead skin it can eat or whatever.

But so either way, I reckon the cause of the flakiness may be located with micro-organisms. All the stuff about kallikrein etc just gives you some of the mechanisms.

I think its got to be something like this, because not many rosaceans have very flaky skin, even if their rosacea is bad. So its got to be something more individual, like a bacteria.

[Melissa W]

Thanks so much Alex. Really great job.

Originally Posted by GJ
Though bear in mind while you were doing that I was watching Come Dine With Me in my underpants. So you have to ask, is it all worth it?

Sounds like an intriguing show.
Sadly, I don't think we get it here

[GJ]

Yeah not having a TV can really get you into some mischief.

I'm sorry. I didn't know things were quite that bad. We are all here for you, MD. I urge you to speak to a friend or a professional. Stay strong, brother.

You would enjoy it, Melissa. Not sure how well it would work for the rest of your countrymen though.

[Peter]

Thanks Alex for taking time out to do this - it made it easier to understand.

All it says is that 'this and this is part of the mechanism by which inflammation happens in rosacea'. But why do we have high kallikrein/cathelicidin? I think Gallo doesn't have any real answer to that question.

I don't think he has either and he could be barking up the wrong tree. I hope I'm wrong because the NRS have directed a considerable amount of money his way so that this research can continue.

There was talk about seeing if Gallo would be interested in doing a Q&A session on here about rosacea in general and his research?

My question would be "Some experts consider that rosacea is a self-limiting condition and does eventually go into remission. There is evidence of this happening and sometimes it can be spontaneous - why do you think is and how do you link this occurrence into your theories?"

Thanks

Peter

[Barbara]

This may have been already posted long time ago but this seems to be related. I have to admit that I don’t understand this article/have no idea what it means. “State of development: Patents pending” Does this mean there is some research going on to develop a treatment?

http://techtransfer.universityofcali...NCD/19149.html

New Treatment or Diagnosis for Rosacea with Existing Approved Drugs

Tech ID: 19149 / UC Case 2007-047-0
Background

Rosacea is a chronic skin condition characterized by recurrent episodes of flushing, erythema, vasodilation, telangiectasia, edema, papules, pustules, hyperplasia, fibroplasia, itching, burning, pain, and skin tightness. Symptoms of rosacea are exacerbated by sun exposure, hot weather, immersion in hot water, high humidity, sweating, exercise, emotional stress, and spicy food. The skin condition usually begins between the ages of thirty to fifty and occurs more frequently in women than men. It currently affects an estimated thirteen million Americans.
Technology Description

UC San Diego investigators have determined abnormal proteolytic processing of a skin peptide as a potential etiologic explanation for rosacea. This is the first time that rosacea has been linked to altered levels of expression of specific peptides, or their proteolytic enzymes, in skin. Skin of patients with rosacea expresses more of these specific peptides than normal facial skin. Rosacea skin contains peptides of unique mass that are absent from normal skin.
A drug that targets specific peptide proteolysis could be much more effective for treatment of rosacea than existing treatments, which include antibiotics. One could treat rosacea by inhibiting specific peptide expression; or by inhibiting the enzyme that cleaves the specific peptide precursor. There are existing drugs approved for other diseases, which may be approvable for use in rosacea.
A diagnostic test for rosacea can be developed by identifying higher levels of these specific peptides, or the processed forms, in patients suspected of having rosacea, distinguishing it from other dermatological or autoimmune diseases. Currently, rosacea is only diagnosed by clinical symptoms and can be confused with other dermatological diseases such as acne. Preliminary diagnosis can be performed by quantitative immunoblot from tape-stripped skin, or definitively by mass spectrometry.
State Of Development

Patents are pending; please see published patent application WO 08080362.
Related Materials

• Yamasaki K, Di Nardo A, Bardan A, Murakami M, Ohtake T, Coda A, Dorschner RA, Bonnart C, Descargues P, Hovnanian A, Morhenn VB, Gallo RL. Increased serine protease activity and cathelicidin promotes skin inflammation in rosacea. Nat Med. 2007 Aug;13(8):975-80. Epub 2007 Aug 5. - 08/17/2007
• Yamasaki K, Schauber J, Coda A, Lin H, Dorschner RA, Schechter NM, Bonnart C, Descargues P, Hovnanian A, Gallo RL. Kallikrein-mediated proteolysis regulates the antimicrobial effects of cathelicidins in skin. FASEB J. 2006 Oct;20(12):2068-80. - 10/01/2006
• http://health.usnews.com/usnews/heal...of-rosacea.htm - 07/08/2006
• http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20134385/
• http://rosacea.ii.net/news/2006_08_0...s_archive.html

Other Information

Categorized As

• Medical
  
  • Disease: Dermatology
  
  

Related cases

2007-047-0
Keywords

rosacea
Contact

University of California, San Diego Technology Transfer Office/ invent@ucsd.edu / tel: 858.534.5815. Please reference Tech ID #19149.
Request Additional Information
University of California, San Diego
Technology Transfer Office
10300 N. Torrey Pines Rd. TPCN, 1st Floor, San Diego, CA 92093-0910 | invent.ucsd.edu
Tel: 858.534.5815 | Fax: 858.534.7345 | invent@ucsd.edu

[Michael_V]

Abstract from Pubmed. Anyone get the whole article?

Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, D-24105, Kiel, Germany. umeyerhoffert@dermatology.uni-kiel.de

The skin protects us from water loss and mechanical damage. The surface-exposed epidermis, a self-renewing stratified squamous epithelium composed of several layers of keratinocytes, is most important in the barrier defense against these challenges. Endogenous and exogenous proteases such as kallikreins, matriptase, caspases, cathepsins, and proteases derived from microorganisms are important in the desquamation process of the stratum corneum and are able to activate and inactivate defense molecules in human epidermis. Protease inhibitors such as like LEKTI, elafin, SLPI, SERPINs, and cystatins regulate their proteolytic activity and contribute to the integrity and protective barrier function of the skin. Changes in the proteolytic balance of the skin can result in inflammation, which leads to the typical clinical signs of redness, scaling, and itching. This review summarizes the current knowledge of how proteases, their inhibitors, and their target proteins, including filaggrin, protease-activated receptors, and corneodesmosin, contribute to the pathophysiology of inflammation of the skin and highlight their role in common inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, rosacea, and psoriasis.

[TheMediumDog]

I am going to make this a sticky.

Just to put out the call: any stuff on Gallo's work - cathelicidin, kallikrein, etc etc - just post it in here, and I'll add it onto the list. Then we've got everything in one place.

[Stefieny]

Scientists and researchers are always experimenting on two groups: individuals with Rosacea and Healthy participants with no Rosacea. Have they missed two very crucial groups here? Considering all the mystery around this condition, I think it's time they try something different. they should consider the following:

Group 1: Individuals predisposed to Rosacea, but does not have active Rosacea
Group 2: Individuals with Rosacea
Group 3: Rosaceans in remission.
Group 4: Healthy individuals with no Rosacea

Perhaps, they can find some abnormal body function similarities among the first 3 groups, but the similarities may shown different levels base on their condition.

I apologize if the above didn't make any sense. I don't have medical research background, just an impatient rosacean waiting for a miracle to happen.

[TheMediumDog]

Well, what you suggest is very sensible.

But the unfortunate and, really, scandalous fact is that research into rosacea simply doesn't have the scale of investment and coordination implied by what you're imagining.

To be useful, getting a cohort of people belonging to the 4 groups you identify, would probably involve, say, 200 people - 50 for each group, in order to be able to average out for individual particularities.

Then, they are going to target and look at particular genes, and biological pathways, which they suspect to be involved in rosacea. There are some likely candidates thrown up by present research; but also a few others implied by current research. So in each individual, you might want to be tracking 10 or so parameters. You're looking for how these parameters vary in the different groups.

All this is going to involve a lot of lab time, a lot of tech, a lot of money and testing and so on. Not stupendous amounts, just a lot.

Question is - where is this money and time and effort coming from? That's the really crucial thing. It could be done, but it isn't, and it isn't because it would have to be funded by a private company which sniffed a lucrative drug at the end of it - if there's a high possibility of failure (which there is) they're really going to be put off, and instead go for the easier thing (endless reformulations of known drugs). Something like the above probably is happening, in a university (maybe San Diego)...but on a smaller scale, and much more slowly - a few years from now maybe some results will dribble out.

In my opinion, rosacea could be solved, apart from exceptional cases. The only reason it isn't is becuase we have a ridiculous economic system that generates absurd interests.