A model to understand postinflammatory hyperpigmentation better

TPostinflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) is a common disease that involves the development of dark spots on the skin at sites of previous injury or disease. This results from the overproduction of melanin in the skin (the pigment that gives skin its standard colour). There are limited options for treating it because not very much is known about how it develops. PIH can significantly impact patients' quality of life, especially in individuals with skin of colour. Based in the USA, the study recruited 29 patients to test the model, which includes light- and colour-based technology to assess the amount of pigmentary response in the skin. The authors induced pigmentation using trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and evaluated the response using a variety of measures. The study findings suggest that in future studies investigating how PIH develops and looking at potential agents that might be used to treat it, the best concentration of TCA to apply is 30%. In addition, the present found that their model could demonstrate a dose-response relationship between the degree of insult and the severity of the resulting pigmentation. This study also shows that microRNAs (small pieces of genetic material that play an essential role in many biological processes) can be helpful tools in our quest for a better understanding of this disease and, possibly, as targets for treatment.