Description

The skin is a physical barrier and an integral part of the immune system. It can reflect and react to various immune-related diseases, sometimes becoming the origin of immune-mediated conditions when tolerance to self-antigens is disrupted. Despite recent advances in dermatological immunology, many mechanisms underlying these diseases remain elusive, and significant gaps persist in our understanding. This research will delve into skin immunology's intricacies, focusing on well-characterized disorders and those that remain enigmatic to uncover new insights.

Immunologically, skin diseases can be classified based on their T-helper (Th) cell profiles. Th1 dominates in conditions like psoriasis (PSO) and cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE), and it is associated with pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., IFN-γ, TNF-α) and cell-mediated immunity. Th2 is crucial in atopic dermatitis (AD) and allergic conditions, characterized by IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 cytokines. These cytokines promote IgE production and eosinophilic inflammation. Th17 is involved in PSO, pyoderma gangrenosum (PG), and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), driven by IL-17 and IL-23, contributing to neutrophilic inflammation and autoimmunity. Th22 is Found in chronic skin diseases like AD and PSO, with IL-22 production affecting skin barrier function and tissue repair.

While much research has been done on diseases like PSO and AD, and the focus now is on finding the best personalized treatments for these patients, other diseases like PG and HS still need a clearer understanding of their causes. They will need more thorough investigations, possibly in collaboration with wet bench labs.

Non-invasive diagnostic techniques are increasingly applied in inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases. These technology tools may also assist in the diagnosis of inflammatory and autoimmune skin diseases that can be grouped together, based on histopathologic features, as psoriasiform, spongiotic and interface dermatitis

Objectivies

• To investigate microbiome and infections in acne vulgaris and HS.
  
• To analyze lipidomic and immunophenotyping of rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis and to study the relationship between skin surface lipids and circulating lipids in inflammatory skin and systemic diseases.
• To evaluate skin barrier function in patients with moderate-severe AD and wet workers.
• To identify molecular biomarkers suggestive of PSO persistence in adulthood and for preventing development of early arthritis
• To investigate new therapies in immune-mediated skin diseases (vitiligo, PSO, DA, HS) and treatment monitoring using non-invasive diagnostic techniques.
  
• To uncover allergic contact dermatitis to new emerging metals.

Annual objectivies

In addition to what was said above:

1. Increase in the number of scientific publications of the Institute about this field in indexed journals.
2. Participation in public and private funding calls related to the Research themes with the goal of securing grants.  
3. Participation at educational meetings for the dissemination of the scientific results of the projects.  
4. Development of PDTA (Diagnostic-Therapeutic Pathway) or establishment of DMT (Multidisciplinary Team) related to the Research Line's themes.  
5. Initiation of multicenter clinical trials related to the Research themes.