Michael Sand

S2 Consulting LLC

For many patients and their treating clinicians, the pharmacological management of psychotic symptoms centres on trying to find a regime that balances efficacy and quality of life, impairing side effects associated with dopamine antagonism. Recent reports of a positive Phase III study from Karuna Therapeutics indicate that the first primarily non-d...

Introduction Recent research has highlighted the increasing ubiquity of smartphone ownership as well as the feasibility of digital interventions within schizophrenia. Digital therapeutics, a subset of digital interventions, have established standards for efficacy and safety and are subject to regulatory oversight as Software as a Medical Device. He...

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin is the most common cancer in humans, characterized by the highest mutation rate among cancers, and is mostly driven by mutations in genes involved in the hedgehog pathway. To date, almost all BCC genetic studies have focused exclusively on protein-coding sequences; therefore, the impact of noncoding variants o...

Keratinocyte carcinomas (KC) include basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCC) and represents the most common cancer in Europe and North America. Both entities are characterized by a very high mutational burden, mainly UV signature mutations. Predominately mutated genes in BCC belong to the sonic hedgehog pathway, wh...

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin is the most common cancer in humans, characterized by the highest mutation rate among cancers, and is mostly driven by mutations in genes involved in the hedgehog pathway. To date, almost all BCC genetic studies have focused exclusively on protein-coding sequences; therefore, the impact of noncoding variants o...

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-021-00540-w

IntroductionFew studies have evaluated patient-reported outcome measures and the effect of patient educational materials in German patients with skin cancer. We conducted a prospective study to measure the impact of treatment on health-related quality of life in German patients with skin cancer, identify variables that may contribute to changes in...

The relevance of Hedgehog signaling in Merkel cell carcinoma has only been addressed by a few studies with conflicting results. Thus, we aimed to establish the expression of Hedgehog signaling molecules in Merkel cell car- cinoma to characterize causes of aberrant expression and to correlate these findings with the clinical course of the patients. Im...

Research into the neurobiological processes that may lead to the onset of schizophrenia places growing emphasis on the glutamatergic system and brain development. Preclinical studies have shown that neurodevelopmental, genetic, and environmental factors contribute to glutamatergic dysfunction and schizophrenia-related phenotypes. Clinical research...

Background: In a small number of kindreds with familial hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) different mutations of NCSTN (nicastrin) have been identified. Blocking of NCSTN leads to impairment of the Notch and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, which is assumed to play a pathogenic role in HS. However, very limited data is available concerning expression level...

Background: Decreased number of T regulatory cells (Tregs) and/or their loss of function potentially lead to uncontrolled immune-mediated inflammatory responses. There are only few data available on Tregs in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) - a disease in which it has been suggested that host immune factors and an overactive immune system of the foll...

Background/aims: Perturbations in the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their maturing machinery components such as Dicer have been previously described for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). However, the mutational status of Dicer in BCC is unclear. Further, the sclerodermiform subtype of BCC (sBCC) has not been previously investigated regarding its...

The degree of general distress reported by women with Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD) varies greatly, which might relate to their level of anxiety or depression. A variety of medical problems also has been associated with PGAD symptoms. The current study sought to determine the most significant predictor of sexually related distress and...

Prevention is the most promising way to reduce the high personal, familial, societal, clinical and economic costs of mental disorders in Europe and worldwide. A complementary approach is to go beyond the prevention of mental ill health, to promote good mental health. This manuscript highlights the first European consortium fostering cutting-edge mu...

BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) key regulators may contribute to the pathogenesis of malignancies. miRNA machinery genes such as Dicer and Drosha have been reported to be biomarkers in different cancer types. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate Drosha and Dicer protein expression in cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL). METHODS: We perform...

Background: As environmental factors appear to predispose patients to hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), studying epigenetic modifications is of interest to further understand the pathogenesis of HS. Objectives: To study the expression of DNA hydroxymethylation regulators, namely the ten-eleven translocation (TET) and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)...

Purpose: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive skin cancer with neuroendocrine differentiation. There is an unmet need for MCC-specific blood-based surrogate biomarkers of tumor burden; circulating cell-free micro(mi)RNA may serve this purpose. Experimental design: Expression of miR-375 was quantified in 24 MCC and 23 non-MCC cell lines,...

In Reply We are grateful for the very constructive and positive feedback from Kokolakis and Sabat regarding our newly proposed Severity Assessment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa (SAHS) score.

来自德国的科学家们针对一种称为白介素‐36 (IL‐36)的细胞因子对化脓性汗腺炎(HS)是否重要进行了研究,HS是一种慢性、疼痛、丑陋、异臭的脓疱性皮肤病,会影响腋窝、腹股沟、臀部和胸部。细胞因子是一种由以某种方式打开其他细胞的一种细胞产生的分子,例如激活免疫系统细胞以追踪发生损伤的部位,包括感染导致的损伤。这是一种复杂的连锁反应或循环。如果细胞因子在不应产生的时候产生了,而不是免疫系统来修复损伤或抗击感染,那么就会导致不当炎症(例如HS中的那样)。本研究检查了15位中重度或重度HS患者的皮肤样本,并发现所有三种IL‐36子类型的水平都有所升高,主要是在称为角质细胞的细胞中:主要在病变皮肤中的子类型IL‐36α、在病变皮肤周围皮肤上的IL‐36β和两种皮肤上都有的IL‐36γ。该研究还证明...

Scientists from Germany investigated whether a cytokine called interleukin‐36 (IL‐36) might be important in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic, painful, disfiguring and offensive‐smelling pustular skin disease that affects the armpits, groins, buttocks and breasts. A cytokine is a molecule produced by one cell that switches on other cells in...

Importance The variation in both clinical appearance and responses to diverse treatment options emphasize the importance of an accurate, clinically relevant, yet easy-to-use scoring system in hidradenitis suppurativa. Objective To propose and provide validation data for the newly designed Severity Assessment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa score. Des...

Background: A possible regulatory involvement of the interleukin (IL)-36 family in inflammatory diseases has been suggested. Objectives: To analyze the expression of IL-36α, β, γ, and the antagonistic cytokines IL-36Ra, IL-37, and IL38 in the skin of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) patients. Methods: Skin samples from lesional and corresponding...

Recently, we could show that the expression levels of the key regulators of the microRNA (miRNA) maturation and transport were dysregulated in inflamed hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) tissue (Heyam et al. in Wiley Interdiscip Rev RNA 6:271-289, 2015). The RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) is the central element of the miRNA pathway and regulates m...

Background: The pathogenesis of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), with its complex inflammatory network, is still elusive. Imbalances in DNA methylation can lead to genome destabilization and have been assumed to play a role in inflammatory diseases. Global DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation have not been studied in HS yet. Objective: We conduc...

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) has been associated with marked inflammatory perturbation. The mechanisms regulating the inflammatory network remain elusive. microRNAs (miRNAs) have been described as gene regulators of inflammation. We evaluated the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of six selected inflammation-related miRNAs in lesional and per...

Purpose: The PIWI-interacting RNA machinery in malignant melanoma (MM) has not been sufficiently studied. We aimed to investigate the PIWIL3 expression profiles in primary melanomas and metastases of MM including a correlation with clinical data. Methods: We studied 161 primary melanomas, 45 lymph node metastases, and 16 distant metastases of 18...

Background: A variety of cancers are associated with the expression of the oncogenic miR-17-92 cluster (Oncomir-1) and tumor suppressor miR-143-5p/miR-145-5p. Epidermal skin cancer has not been investigated for the expression of miR-17-92 and miR-143-145 clusters, despite being extensively studied regarding global microRNA profiles. The goal of th...

No abstract is available for this article.

Background Quality of life in patients represents an important area of assessment. However, attention to health professionals should be equally important. The literature on the quality of life (QOL) of emergency physicians is scarce. This pilot study investigated QOL in emergency physicians in Germany. Materials and Methods We conducted a cross-se...

AimIn addition to assessing stress-coping strategies in patients, equal attention should be paid to health-care professionals. The literature on the stress-coping strategies of emergency physicians – health-care professionals who are frequently subject to stress in a fast-paced clinical setting – is scant. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the str...

The reconstruction of the nasal tip support is one of the most essential issues in septorhinoplasty. A comparison of the results after using the tongue-in-groove technique and the columellar strut technique was the target of this study. Thirty-three patients who underwent a primary, open approach septorhinoplasty using the above-mentioned technique...

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is often a therapeutic challenge with relapses and chronicity which can severely impact patients' quality of life. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of anti-inflammatory oral zinc gluconate, 90mg/day, combined with topical triclosan, 2% twice daily. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the medical r...

Background: The role of bacterial colonization in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) lesions is poorly understood. To date, data on the related microbial profile and especially on bacterial resistance rates are scarce. Methods: The results of bacterial cultures and susceptibility patterns of the isolated microorganisms obtained from deep portions of...

Background Bim having strong pro-apoptotic effects belongs to the BH3-only proteins of the Bcl-2 protein family and contributes to survival pathways in cancer cells. Objectives We aimed to investigate Bim protein expression in cutaneous melanoma (CM). Methods Bim protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in primary and metastatic mela...

Background: CircularRNAs (circRNAs) are a reinvented class of abundant, stable, and evolutionary conserved non-coding RNAs with pivotal impacts on the cellular regulatory network and epigenetics by sequestering microRNAs (miRNAs) like a sponge. Objective: Purpose of the present study was to investigate circRNA expression in cutaneous squamous ce...

Aim: Circular RNAs (circRNAs), are nonprotein coding RNAs consisting of a circular loop with multiple miRNA, binding sites called miRNA response elements (MREs), functioning as miRNA sponges. This study was performed to identify differentially expressed circRNAs and their MREs in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Materials & methods: Microarray circRN...

Background: Despite there being over 35,000 different lncRNA sequences described little is known regarding their molecular-pathological role in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC). Materials & methods: In this pilot study, lncRNA and mRNA expression profiles were determined in cSCC and control (n = 6) by an Arraystar human lncRNA Microarray...

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are fundamental regulators of pre- and post-transcriptional gene regulation. Over 35,000 different lncRNAs have been described with some of them being involved in cancer formation. The present study was initiated to describe differentially expressed lncRNAs in basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Patients with BCC (n = 6) were...

Background: The inflammatory pathogenesis behind the debilitating chronic inflammatory skin disorder hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is poorly understood. Deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to the pathogenesis and chronic inflammation in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, there are no data on the expression or function of...

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare quality of life after regular care provision in people with and without currently treated chronic disease in a country-wide and population-based setting. Methods: Data were retrieved from Welsh Health Survey, 2013. Information on demographics, lifestyle factors, health condi...

Since the discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) there have been performed several studies showing perturbations in the expression of miRNAs and the miRNA expression machinery in cutaneous melanoma. Dicer, a pivotal cytosolic enzyme of miRNA maturation has shown to be affected by both somatic and germline mutations in a variety of cancers. Recent studies...

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been identified as key players in posttranscriptional gene regulation and have a significant impact on basal cell carcinoma (BCC) development. The Sonic hedgehog pathway inhibitor vismodegib has been approved for oral therapy of metastatic or advanced BCC. Here, a high-throughput miRNA sequencing analysis was carr...

Background: Data regarding the association of routinely obtained serum markers of inflammation, namely C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell count, and neutrophil count, with disease severity of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) according to a scoring system have not been reported to our knowledge. Objective: We sought to evaluate these inflamm...

Reconstruction of inner lining of the nose often requires complex surgical procedures. To evaluate the scar hinge flap as an alternative reconstruction technique, 21 patients with full-thickness defects of the ala who received a scar hinge flap were retrospectively analysed. Twenty-one patients were included. The average defect size was 1.9 cm2. Ca...

Background: Reconstruction of inner lining of the nose often requires complex surgical procedures. Methodology: To evaluate the scar hinge flap as an alternative reconstruction technique, 21 patients with full-thickness defects of the ala who received a scar hinge flap were retrospectively analysed. Results: Twenty-one patients were included. The a...

Modified microscopically controlled surgery (MCS) is a staged and margin-controlled excision; after MCS, the selection of an appropriate initial wound dressing plays an important role in wound healing. A wide range of dressings is available for temporary wound coverage; however, data comparing different types of wound dressings after MCS are lackin...

First described in 2003, the keystone flap has become an established plastic and reconstructive surgery technique for the closure of soft tissue defects following the excision of skin tumors. Complex reconstruction procedures may thus be avoided [3]. In dermatosurgery, however, the keystone flap remains largely unknown.Compared to subcutaneous pedi...

The BJC is owned by Cancer Research UK, a charity dedicated to understanding the causes, prevention and treatment of cancer and to making sure that the best new treatments reach patients in the clinic as quickly as possible. The journal reflects these aims. It was founded more than fifty years ago and, from the start, its far-sighted mission was to...

Background: Surgical treatment of multiple and recurring invasive carcinomas on the dorsum of the hand often results in a reconstructive challenge. Reconstruction is limited due to reduced adjacent tissue. Preserving the functionality of the hand is pivotal and needs to be respected while planning reconstruction. Objective: We present a case of...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of 17-23 nucleotide short, nonprotein-coding RNA molecules which have emerged to be key players in posttranscriptional gene regulation. In this chapter we give an in-depth review of the classic, canonical mammalian miRNA maturation pathway and discuss new, noncanonical alternatives such as the mirtron pathway wh...

The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a valuable and well-proven technique used to investigate the expression level of multiple components of the microRNA (miRNA) maturation machinery. Here, we describe how to determine the messenger RNA expression levels of components of the miRNA machinery starting from the isolation o...

High-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) scanners have recently been developed providing significantly higher resolution than conventional OCT. To assess the relationship between recently defined histopathological HD-OCT correlates of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and possible predictors for the most common tumour subtypes. For HD-OCT im...

Background: Direct closure is the reconstruction of choice for surface soft tissue defects; however, it may not be suitable for larger defects due to extensive tension. A variety of techniques are available for achieving tension free closure, including skin grafts, skin flaps, and internal or external tissue expansion. Materials and methods: The...

Full-thickness defects of the nose are a challenge for dermatologic surgeons and require reconstruction of the nasal mucosa. Different techniques for septal mucosal flaps are sophisticated and are mainly in the domain of otorhinolaryngology and oralmaxillofacial surgery. According to our experience a hinge flap is technically easy and offers good f...

Bei der Hidradenitis suppurativa/Acne inversa (HS/AI) scheint die Laserepilation v. a. in initialen Stadien einen erfolgversprechenden Therapieansatz darzustellen. Beim Pilonidalsinus (PS) wird die Laserepilation überwiegend als adjuvante Therapie nach operativen Eingriffen zur Senkung der Rezidivrate empfohlen. Der Vergleich der Studienlage bei de...

Several research groups have recently reported on markedly reduced levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in human breast, liver, lung, pancreatic, colon, prostate, brain, and myeloid cancers. We studied benign compound nevi (BCN, n=17), dysplastic compound nevi (DCN, n=15), superficial spreading melanomas [SSM, stratified in <1 mm (n=19) and >4...

We are pleased to bring to your readers’ attention our recently collected data, which were made available by the participating airlines. On the basis of 10 189 medical emergencies on board commercial aircrafts we were able to describe a similar distribution pattern as the authors described in their article (1). Our study also showed that in more th...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a fairly novel class of 17- to 23-nucleotide (nt), short, non-coding RNA molecules that have revolutionized our understanding of gene regulation and opened new possibilities in the future of gene therapy. Here, we review the potential role of miRNAs in non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and summarize the current studies availabl...

Acne inversa is a chronic, suppurative relapsing inflammatory skin disease that primarily affects the axillae, perineum and inframammary regions. Evidence suggests that the innate immune system is involved in the pathogenesis of acne inversa. To investigate the role of the innate immune system in acne inversa. Skin biopsies were obtained from infla...

The microprocessor complex mediates intranuclear biogenesis of precursor microRNAs from the primary microRNA transcript. Extranuclear, mature microRNAs are incorporated into the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) before interaction with complementary target mRNA leads to transcriptional repression or cleavage. In this study, we investigated the e...

Perturbations in microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been reported for cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) predominantly when examined in cell lines. Despite the rapidly growing number of newly discovered human miRNA sequences, the availability of up-to-date miRNA expression profiles for clinical samples of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma...

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a novel class of short RNAs that are capable epigenetically regulating gene expression in eukaryotes. MicroRNAs have been shown to be dysregulated in a variety of cancers. The data on miRNA expression in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) are very limited, and microarray-based miRNA expression profiles of c...

Although several studies have shown a dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in cutaneous melanoma, there has been little research on the miRNA machinery itself. In this study, we investigated the mRNA expression profiles of different miRNA machinery components in primary cutaneous malignant melanoma (PCMM), cutaneous malignant melan...

Background: Perturbations in the expression profiles of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported for a variety of different cancers. Differentially expressed miRNAs have not been systematically evaluated in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) of the skin. Objectives: To initiate a microarray-based miRNA profiling study to identify specific miRNA candidates...

Introduction The purpose of this study was to perform a descriptive, content-based analysis on the different forms of documentation for in-flight medical emergencies that are currently provided in the emergency medical kits on board commercial airlines. Methods Passenger airlines in the World Airline Directory were contacted between March and May...

Injections with phosphatidylcholine- and deoxycholate-containing substances are used to treat localized fat accumulation and lipomas. It is believed that the injected substances induce fat cell destruction with subsequent acute panniculitis followed by a repair process of the treated fat tissue. We investigated whether necrosis or apoptosis of fat...

Generally, axillary hyperhidrosis (AH) is treated with antiperspirant agents, botulinum toxin, or local surgery. The effect of laser treatment on sweat secretion in patients with AH has not been investigated. To evaluate the effect of diode laser epilation on the sweat rate of patients with AH. We performed a randomized half-side controlled trial....

Injections with phosphatidylcholine- and deoxycholate-containing substances are used to reduce localized fat accumulations. Recent studies have suggested that this procedure may be a non-surgical alternative for reducing the size of lipomas. However, only short-term data about efficacy are available, and it is unclear whether a permanent reduction...

Dicer is an essential cytosolic enzyme necessary for processing premicroRNAs into mature microRNAs (miRNAs). Although a variety of malignancies have been attributed to perturbations in the miRNA machinery, there has been little research conducted on the role of miRNAs in cutaneous malignant melanoma and its premalignant lesions. In this small pilot...

Dicer is an essential cytosolic enzyme necessary for processing pre-microRNAs into mature microRNAs (miRNAs). Although a variety of malignancies have been attributed to perturbations in the miRNA machinery, there has been little research conducted on the role of miRNAs in cutaneous malignant melanoma and its premalignant lesions. In this small pilo...

Increasing air travel has resulted in a significant increase in aeromedical evacuation (AE) over the past decade. However, there are limited epidemiological data available on the diagnosis, costs, and transport characteristics of AE cases. Cases of AE by a relief organization (Workers' Samaritan Federation Germany) were analyzed based on the follow...

In cases of critical medical situations on board commercial aircraft, access to emergency medical kits can be lifesaving. Thus, this comparative study investigated acute care medication and equipment supplied in emergency medical kits on board both low-cost carriers and full-service carriers. Thirty-two European airlines (sixteen low-cost carriers...

Post-vermilionectomy defect closure by a mucosal advancement flap is a well-established method, although moderate morbidity may accompany the procedure, especially in elderly patients. The objective of the present study was to compare a simple primary closure (PC) for reconstruction after complete resection of the vermilion (vermilionectomy) with c...

Skin diseases on the nose are seen in a variety of medical disciplines. Dermatologists, otorhinolaryngologists, general practitioners and general plastic and dermatologic surgeons are regularly consulted regarding cutaneous lesions on the nose. This article is the second part of a review series dealing with cutaneous lesions on the head and face, w...