The recent interest in the pharmacology of the skin and the treatment of its diseases has come about for two reasons. The first is a realisation that many aspects of pharmacology can be studied as easily in human skin as in animal models, where they may be more relevant to human physiology and disease. Examples of this are the action of various vasoactive agents and the isolation of mediators of inflammation after UV irradiation and antigen-induced dermatitis. The second reason is the fortuitous realisation that a pharmacological approach to the treatment of skin disease need not always await the full elucidation of aetiology and mechanism. For example, whilst the argument continued un resolved as to whether the pilo-sebaceous infection which constitutes acne was due to a blocked duct or to a simple increase in sebum production, 13-cis retinoic acid, was found quite by chance totally to ablate the disease; again, whilst cyclosporin, fresh from its triumphs in organ transplantation, has been found able to suppress the rash of psoriasis, it has resuscitated the debate on aetiology. We are therefore entering a new era in which the pharmacology and clinical pharmacology of skin are being studied as a fascinating new way of exploring questions of human physiology and pharmacology as well as for the development and study of new drugs, use of which will improve disease control and at the same time help to define pathological mechanisms.

Klappentext

The pharmacology and clinical pharmacology of skin are being studied as a fascinating new way of exploring questions of human physiology and pharmacology, and as an important step in the development of new drugs. Detailed information which can be used as a basis for further study in this attractive field is now available for the first time. This is the second of two independent, yet complementary, volumes which form one complete work on the pharmacology of the skin. It provides academic and industrial researchers and clinicians with an integrated approach to the subject so that both the experienced worker and those new to the field can gain up-to-date insight in all the relevant topics. While Volume I covers the general pharmacology of the skin, Volume II is concerned with disease and drugs. It discusses methods of measuring the response of skin to drugs; toxicology, including drug metabolism in the skin and absorption by it; and specific drugs acting on the skin and drugs used for specific diseases. Throughout both volumes, the most recent advances on clinical pharmacological aspects of study in the field are presented.

Inhalt
Section A: Methods.- 1 Methods for the Study of Proliferative Rates in Epidermis.- 2 Tissue and Fluids: Sampling Techniques.- 3 Measurement of Sweating and Sweat Gland Function.- 4 Measurement of Human Sebaceous Gland Function.- 5 Methods for Assessing the Effect of Drugs on Hair and Nails.- 6 Measurement of Drug Action in the Skin: Sensation.- 7 The Measurement of Itch.- 8 Measurement of Skin Thickness, Wealing, Irritant, Immune and Ultraviolet Inflammatory Response in Skin.- 9 Measurement of Drug Action in Skin: Dermal Connective Tissue.- 10 Microbiological Sampling Techniques.- 11 Clinical Trial Methods.- Section B: Absorption, Metabolism and Toxicity.- 12 The Properties of Skin as a Diffusion Barrier and Route for Absorption.- 13 Skin as a Mode for Systemic Drug Administration.- 14 Drug Metabolism in the Skin.- 15 Skin Cancer (Excluding Melanomas).- 16 Toxicology of Cosmetics.- 17 Drug Sensitisation.- Section C: Drugs and Diseases.- 18 H1- and H2-Receptor Antagonists.- 19 Clinical Pharmacology of Topical Steroids.- 20 Glucocorticoids and Lipocortin.- 21 Cutaneous Vasodilators.- 22 Fibrinolysis and Fibrinolytic Drugs.- 23 Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Agents and the Skin.- 24 Immunosuppressive (Cytotoxic) and Immunostimulant Drugs.- 25 Three Generations of Retinoids: Basic Pharmacologic Data, Mode of Action, and Effect on Keratinocyte Proliferation and Differentiation.- 26 Hypolipidaemic Agents in the Treatment of Xanthomata.- 27 Drugs Acting on Dermal Connective Tissue.- 28 Fungal Skin Infections.- 29 Bacterial Infections.- 30 Herpes Virus Infections.- 31 The Urticarias.- 32 Eczema.- 33 Treatment of Psoriasis.- 34 Anthralin.- 35 The Treatment of Acne.- 36 Pharmacology of Anti-androgens in the Skin.- 37 The Effect of Drugs on Hair.- 38 Photochemotherapy.- 39 Dapsone and Sulphapyridine.- 40 Zinc Deficiency.- 41 The Ichthyoses.- 42 Tropical Skin Diseases.