Introduction: Hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether-photodynamic therapy (HMME-PDT) has been showing promising results in the treatment of port-wine stains (PWSs). We evaluated the clinical efficacy and treatment response of HMME-PDT in adult Chinese patients with PWSs. Methods: A single-center retrospective study recruited adult PWS patients with negative HMME skin test results from December 2017 to May 2020. Patients received an intravenous injection of 5 mg/kg HMME and the lesions were exposed to 532 nm LED green light with an irradiation power density of 85-95 mW/cm 2 for 20-25 min. Digital photographs were taken before and after two therapy sessions and observed by three blinded dermatologists for clinical response. Results: A total of 72 patients aged between 18 and 55 years were recruited. There were 65 patients of the flat purple type, 5 of the hypertrophic type, and 2 of the nodular thickening type. Of the 65 patients, 7 showed excellent efficacy (10.77%), 13 patients indicated good efficacy (20.00%), 47 patients showed fair efficacy (64.62%), while 3 cases displayed no improvement (4.62%). All five patients of the purple and hypertrophic type showed fair efficacy (100%), and no improvement was observed in patients of the nodular thickening type (100%). Pain, pruritus, and a burning sensation were observed during treatment. Edema was noted on the treated areas post-treatment. No other obvious systemic adverse reactions were observed. Conclusion: HMME-PDT is an effective and safe treatment for adult patients with purple PWSs. Multiple HMME-PDT treatments can improve the response and cure rate.

Introduction: Although pulsed dye laser (PDL) remains the gold standard for the treatment of port-wine stains (PWS), hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether photodynamic therapy (HMME-PDT) is another treatment modality that has been shown to be effective in the treatment of PWS. This study aimed to observe the clinical efficacy and therapeutic response of HMME-PDT in the treatment of pediatric Chinese patients with PWS and to analyze the association between the efficacy of therapy and the dermoscopic features of PWS. Methods: Pediatric patients with PWS and negative HMME skin test were enrolled between Xin-yu Zhang and Najwa Al-Odaini share first authorship.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease defined by the production of autoantibodies and involves multiple organs and systems. Although there are reports on SLE, data on its pathogenesis is limited.Methods: Using R language software, we constructed a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network.We then utilized the Search Tool for Recurring Instances of Neighbouring Genes (STRING) and cytoHubba databases to generate a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, which led to the identification of hub genes. The top two hub genes with the highest Maximal Clique Centrality (MCC) score in the PPI network were further validated via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) using inhouse clinical samples. Also, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) with genes from the Gene Expression Omnibus Series (GSE)121239 dataset identified hub modules that were associated with clinical indicators. In addition, the genes contained in key modules as obtained by WGCNA were enriched and analyzed using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) online tool. The top hub gene, X-linked apoptosis inhibitory protein-associated factor (XAF1), was then identified by intersection of the PPI and WGCNA outcomes, and a pan-cancer analysis of this hub gene was subsequently performed.Results: We comprehensively profiled the expression of Circular RNAs (circRNAs), MicroRNAs (miRNAs), and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in SLE. We identified a hub gene, XAF1, based on evidence from the ceRNA network, WGCNA key module genes, and PPI network analyses. Moreover, qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the expression of XAF1 was significantly upregulated in SLE. Through the pan-cancer analysis, we demonstrated the common molecular roles of XAF1 in the pathogenesis of SLE and tumors, especially cutaneous melanoma.Conclusions: XAF1 is a key molecular biomarker in SLE. The pan-cancer analysis in this study provided shared genomic characteristics in SLE and cancers, especially for skin cutaneous melanoma (SKCM).