No abstract

Using infrared and Raman microspectroscopy, the authors examined the interaction of cold atmospheric plasma with the skin's built-in protective cushion, the outermost skin layer stratum corneum. Following a spectroscopic analysis, the authors could identify four prominent chemical alterations caused by plasma treatment: (1) oxidation of disulfide bonds in keratin leading to a generation of cysteic acid; (2) formation of organic nitrates as well as (3) of new carbonyl groups like ketones, aldehydes and acids; and (4) reduction of double bonds in the lipid matter lanolin, which resembles human sebum. The authors suggest that these generated acidic and NO-containing functional groups are the source of an antibacterial and regenerative environment at the treatment location of the stratum corneum. Based upon the author's results, the authors propose a mechanistic view of how cold atmospheric plasmas could modulate the skin chemistry to produce positive long-term effects on wound healing: briefly, cold atmospheric plasmas have the potential to transform the skin itself into a therapeutic resource.

Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article: Data S1. Methods. Figure S1. (a) Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis using a human-specific ALU probe (green) showing hybridization to nuclei in epithelial and dermal cells, including dermal papilla and dermal sheath. (b) H&E stained section of dermal-epidermal composite harvested at 10 weeks shows junction of graft and host mouse skin. (c) Serial section of (b) stained with the antibody specific for human but not mouse COX IV confirms junction of graft and host mouse skin (dotted line). Human cells are immunoreactive in graft epithelium and dermis as well as in the de novo regenerated follicular epithelium (arrow), whereas adjacent mouse dermal cells, and follicular (arrow heads) and interfollicular epithelium stained negative. (d) Telogen HF from serial section of (c) shows no Ki-67 positive cells consistent with telogen stage of hair follicle (arrow). (e) An anagen hair follicle (arrow) with dermal papilla from the same section as the telogen hair follicle in (d) shows dense Ki-67 reactivity in matrix as expected. Scale bars: a 50 lm, b and c 320 lm, and d and e 35 lm. Figure S2. ( Abstract: Xerosis is one of the most common dermatologic disorders occurring in the elderly and in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Xerosis has been linked to an impaired skin barrier function of the stratum corneum. Using Raman microspectroscopy, we concentrated on deeper skin layers, viable epidermis and dermis of 47 volunteers and associated molecular alterations to the evolution of xerosis and the skin barrier, for example, lipid, water and antioxidant content. A decrease in lipids within the viable epidermis is found for elderly and HIV-patients. Lipid and water values of AD patients and their healthy reference group are similar. Decreases in lipids and simultaneous increases in water are found in the dermis for HIV and AD patients in comparison to their healthy reference groups. Excessive levels of epidermal carotenoids, mainly lycopene, in HIV-patients were found potentially leading to adverse effects such as premature skin ageing.

Abstract-We report on a newly developed and integrated microscopy and nanoscopy station at the ANKA-IR2 beamline. We further elucidate how vibrational near-field and microspectroscopy can give new insights in medical applications.

Atmospheric pressure plasmas like dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) have shown noticeable positive effects on stimulation of wound healing, especially treatment of chronic wounds. Due to this, the therapeutic use of plasma devices is gaining importance although the interaction of plasma with skin and the processes taking place in skin are poorly understood.To get an insight into aforementioned interactions, a DBD, operating in air as process gas, is used for treatment of skin model components. DBD is characterized concerning plasma parameters and fluxes of important species like ozone or nitric oxide are determined. As a model component keratin was chosen because it is the most abundant protein in the stratum corneum, the upper layer of skin. After treatment, chemical changes of keratin are analyzed using Raman microspectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive vibrational spectroscopic technique. It is capable of probing vibrational modes of functional groups of biological material. Hence, chemical changes of functional groups induced by plasma treatment will be detected.Chemical alterations in keratin are visible in the Raman spectrum already after a few seconds of treatment time. After longer treatment times a large oxidizing effect of the plasma generated reactive species is apparent which leads pH reduction after plasma treatment. Results achieved by this investigation contribute to the understanding of interaction between plasma and skin as well as wound healing mechanisms.