Editorial [Hot topic: Updates on Therapeutic Approaches to Inflammatory Skin Diseases: From Molecular Targets to Drug Development. Part II (Guest Editors: L. Korkina & S. Pastore)]

摘要

If the First Volume of the Hot Topic Issue has covered mainly the vast and rapidly growing field of targeted “biological” drugs developed on purpose to specifically inhibit or even completely interrupt inflammatory pathways in the patients affected by chronic immune-mediated skin diseases, the Second Volume provides comprehensive reviews on the “re-discovery” of natural low molecular weight substances with potent anti-inflammatory, wound healing, and anti-photoaging properties. The idea of using “tender” drugs offered by “Mother-Nature” [1] is one of the most attractive health concepts nowadays. Numerous secondary metabolites produced by plants in order to protect themselves against hostile environment, competitors, infections, and physical damage, seem to be excellent candidates for the treatment of chronic diseases and esthetical defects of the skin. Hence a wealth of skin products based on botanicals or purified plant-derived substances are emerging yearly. A mountain of evidence suggests that, when topically applied, these products exert anti-inflammatory, photo-protective, cancer chemopreventive, wound healing, anti-aging, or whitening effects. It has been noticed that 12 out of 40 anti-inflammatory drugs approved between 1983 and 1994 worldwide were derived from or based on plant substances, mainly polyphenols [2]. A decade ago, the capacity of plant polyphenols to attenuate acute or/and chronic inflammation of the skin was ascribed to their antioxidant, free radical scavenging, and metal chelating properties. However, it is now evident that remarkable anti-inflammatory efficacy of plant polyphenols could be better explained by a multitude of effects. To our present knowledge, plant-derived molecules have a major impact on resident (keratinocytes and mast cells) and recruited (granulocytes, lymphocytes, and dendritic cells) cells involved in the inflammatory response in the skin. From the molecular point of view, these natural substances can inhibit both expression and activity of numerous pro-inflammatory enzymes, react with specific surface and nuclear receptors, modulate signal transduction pathways and cytokine production, and affect epigenetically the expression of genes involved in the inflammatory response [3].