A comprehensive pathophysiology of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis - towards a more precise definition of scalp health.

Despite an increasing knowledge of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (D/SD), the pathophysiological understanding is still incomplete but suggests a role of Malassezia yeasts in triggering inflammatory and hyper-proliferative epidermal responses. The objective of this report is to review published literature from in vivo studies of D/SD populations to provide a more complete description of overall scalp health. New biomolecular capabilities establish a depth of pathophysiological understanding not previously achievable with traditional means of investigation. Biomarkers representing inflammation, hyper-proliferation and barrier function are all perturbed by the D/SD condition and robustly respond to therapeutic resolution. These biomarkers can be sampled noninvasively, enabling their use in routine clinical evaluations as either surrogate endpoints or complementary ones to classical signs/symptoms to broaden the etiological learning.

Citation

James R Schwartz, Andrew G Messenger, Antonella Tosti, Gail Todd, Maria Hordinsky, Roderick J Hay, Xuemin Wang, Claus Zachariae, Kathy M Kerr, James P Henry, Rene C Rust, Michael K Robinson. A comprehensive pathophysiology of dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis - towards a more precise definition of scalp health. Acta dermato-venereologica. 2013 Mar 27;93(2):131-7

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PMID: 22875203

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