Introduction:Acne scars are largely preventable complications of acne. 95% of the scars occur over the face thus impacting the quality of life. Correction of scars is the priority for acne patients.Materials and Methods:Thirty patients with post acne atrophic facial scars attending the OPD during the period from April to October 2013 were offered four sittings of microneedling with PRP on one side and microneedling with vitamin C on other side of the face at an interval of 1 month.Results:Twenty-seven out of the total 30 patients completed the treatment schedule. Two patients were lost to follow up and one dropped out of the study due to severe PIH. Mean age of the patients was 27.5 years. Out of 30 patients, 23 achieved reduction in scarring by one or two grades. Excellent response was seen in five (18.5%) patients with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as compared to two (7%) patients who received treatment with vitamin C according to physician's assessment. As far as up gradation by 1 score is considered, i.e., good response, it was similar in both cases. Vitamin C did not prove to be as efficacious as PRP since 10 (37%) patients had poor response in vitamin C-treated area compared to only 6 (22.2%) patients who underwent PRP therapy, but vitamin C proved to be efficacious in dealing with post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation secondary to acne. Patients were more satisfied with PRP as compared to vitamin C. The results were evaluated and statistical analysis was done using SPSS 16.0.2.Conclusions:Overall results were better with microneedling and PRP. Vitamin C combined with microneedling also showed improvement with respect to firmness and smoothness of skin; as well as post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation. Microneedling combined with PRP proved to be good in treating boxcar and rolling scars but had limited efficacy in dealing with ice pick scars.

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We previously reported that EGCG, a green tea antioxidant, inhibits tumor growth and angiogenesis of breast cancer in mice. However, it is not clear whether EGCG exerts an anti‐angiogenic effect on normal body tissues while inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. The present study evaluates the effects of EGCG on melanoma angiogenesis and growth, capillary density (CD) in the heart and skeletal muscles of mice. Six wk old male mice (C57BL/6J) were given EGCG at 50‐100 mg/kg/d (25 mg/50 ml in drinking water) for 4 wks. Control mice received drinking water only. In the 2nd wk, 10^6 B16F10 (mouse melanoma) cells were injected in the right proximal dorsal. In the end, the tumor, heart, and limb muscles were isolated for measuring tumor size, CD using CD31 immunohistochemistry, and VEGF expression using ELISA. EGCG significantly reduced tumor weight over the control (2.9±0.5 vs. 5.9±1.8 g; n=6; P<0.05), CD (117±21 vs. 167±25; P<0.01), and VEGF expression (32.6±1.6 vs. 41.5±2.3 pg/mg; P<0.01) of the melanomas in mice. EGCG had no effect on CD in the heart (3270±162 vs. 3103±226 #/mm^2) and limb muscles (370±55 vs. 381±44 #/mm^2), compared to the control (P>0.05). EGCG did not affect VEGF expression in the heart and limb muscles, the body weight and heart weight. These findings support the hypothesis that EGCG as an antioxidant inhibits tumor angiogenesis and tumor growth but does not affect the normal tissue CD and growth. (HL51971 & AA013821)

Estrogen receptor (ER)‐positive breast cancers have a better prognosis than ER‐negative breast cancers, which are more aggressive. The present study determines whether EGCG, a green tea antioxidant, exerts different effects on VEGF expression and proliferation in cultured ER‐positive (MCF‐7) and ER‐negative (MDA‐MB‐231) human breast cancer cells. MCF‐7 and MDA‐MB‐231 cells were cultured using RPMI 1640 media with 10% FBS. ELISA showed that VEGF and VEGF receptor‐2 were more highly expressed in ER‐negative cells than ER‐positive cells (>8‐fold, P<0.01; n=8). 3H‐thymidine incorporation showed that EGCG at 10, 25, and 50 µg/ml caused a dose‐related inhibition in the proliferation of MCF‐7 cells, by 29, 54, and 85%, compared to the control, respectively (P<0.01). However, the same concentrations of EGCG did not inhibit the proliferation of MDA‐MB‐231 cells. EGCG at 50 µg/ml significantly decreased VEGF expression (1752±49 vs. 2254±91 pg/mg; P<0.01) in cultured MCF‐7 cells, compared to the control. However, EGCG at 10 to 50 µg/ml did not inhibit VEGF expression in cultured MDA‐MB‐231 cells. These results suggest that highly expressed VEGF and its receptor may be involved in the aggressive malignant signaling systems of ER‐negative breast cancers, and that EGCG, a green tea antioxidant, can be used to treat ER‐positive human breast cancers, which are sensitive to EGCG. (HL51971 & AA013821)