Skin Pharmacology and Toxicology

Major skin diseases, including acne, psoriasis and eczcma, affect the majority of the population at some time in their lives. In general, these diseases are physically and psychologically disfiguring for the sufferers; furthermore, by their very chronic nature skin diseases, unlike most other disease processes, present both acute and chronic therapy problems. In addition, the chronic nature of these diseases can present certain economic problems. Firstly, chronic therapy is becoming increasingly expensive and secondly, patients adhering to a strict treatment regimen will frequently be absent from their gainful employment for either medical consultation or treatment. Given that in all NATO countries the average age of the population is continually increasing, these chronic skin diseases will increase in importance in the coming years. Furthermore, as the average population age increases, additional disease processes such as skin photodamage and carcinogenicity risk becoming major areas of therapeutic concern. This book reviews in detail the major scientific areas of interest for research and clinical scientists working in skin pharmacology and toxicology. The basic principles relating to an understanding of how drugs and chemicals may influence either the skin or the body as a whole are discussed in detail by recognized international scientific experts.

Inhalt

Dermatological Drug Development - A Review of some Important Issues.- Carbohydrate, Protein and Lipid Metabolism in the Skin; Biochemical and Molecular Aspects.- Hormone Receptors in the Skin.- Skin Permeability and Models of Percutaneous Absorption.- Skin as a Portal of Entry for Systemic Effect: Xenobiotic Metabolism85 D.R. Bickers.- Animal Models Used in Cutaneous Pharmacology.- Hyperplastic Transformation: the Response of the Skin to Irritation and Injury.- The Evaluation of Cutaneous Toxicity: Past and Future.- In Vitro Biochemical Markers of Skin Toxicity.- The Use of Cultured Human Keratinocytes as a Model System for Skin Pharmacology and Toxicology.- Pro-Inflammatory Mediators and Human Skin Disease.- Studies of Photoaging.- Photosensitization Chemically Induced: Mechanisms and Clinical Aspects.- Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Multistage Carcinogenesis; Role of Oncogenes and Intercellular Communication.- Contact and Atopic Dermatitis.- In Vitro Expanded Human Keratinocytes: Clinical and Biological Experiences.- A Comparative Evaluation of Sun Protective Properties of a Shea Butter by Reflectance Spectroscopy, Laser Doppler Flowmetry and Visual Scoring.- A Computer System for Contact Dermatitis.- Nuclear Aberrations in Anagen Hair Follicle Cells; a Novel in Vivo Assay for the Detection of Genotoxic Agents.- A New Evaluation Method of Skin Plastoelasticity.- An Interspecies Comparison of Skin Structure (Hair Follicle Area as Determined by a Novel Technique) and Skin Permeability.- Chemical-Induced Differentiation of Cultured Human Keratinocytes as Measured by Cell Size Distribution.- Contributors.