The present invention address the problem of providing a transparent skin sample by removing epidermis via enzymatic treatment.

A method to predict a propensity of an individual to develop atopic dermatitis is disclosed. The method, which involves use of biological markers, can also be used to evaluate the efficacy of a composition to treat atopic dermatitis.

The present invention is based on the discovery of genetic polymorphisms that are associated with psoriasis and related pathologies. In particular, the present invention relates to nucleic acid molecules containing the polymorphisms, including groups of nucleic acid molecules that may be used as a signature marker set, such as a haplotype, a diplotype, variant proteins encoded by such nucleic acid molecules, reagents for detecting the polymorphic nucleic acid molecules and proteins, and methods of using the nucleic acid and proteins as well as methods of using reagents for their detection.

Disclosed is a substance which down-regulates the activity of a MAST gene, or the activity of a transcription or translation product of a MAST gene, for use in the prevent and/or treatment of an inflammatory skin condition in a mammalian subject.

An apparatus for estimating body water status includes a spectrometer having a light source configured to emit light onto an object, and a detector configured to measure a near-infrared (NIR) absorption spectrum by detecting light scattered or reflected from the object; and a processor configured to estimate an albumin concentration in the object based on the measured NIR absorption spectrum, and to estimate a body water index based on the estimated albumin concentration by using a body water index estimation model that represents a relationship between a change in the albumin concentration and a change in an amount of body water present in the object.

The identification of new biomarkers that are specifically associated with skin dryness. These biomarkers, which are extended synaptotagmin-3 (ESYT3), Ubiquinin-carboxyl terminal hydrolase 7 (USP7), periplakine (PPL) and Late Cornified Envelop Protein 1C (LCE1C), allow for the accurate evaluation of the moisture content of the skin, and particularly allow for the diagnosis of dry skin. Also, a method for determining the moisture content of the skin, and particularly for diagnosing dry skin in a subject, the method including a step of measuring, in a skin sample obtained from the subject, the expression level of at least one protein selected from ESYT3, USP7, PPL and LCE1C. Further, a method for evaluating the efficacy of a cosmetic treatment for hydrating the skin and to a method for screening candidate cosmetic compounds, both being based on measuring the expression level of the above biomarkers.

Systems and methods for generating user-specific recommendations of products or services by collaborative filtering executed and/or performed by one or more trained or untrained predictive models configured to ingest product attribute(s), product purpose(s), user location data, and/or user demographics. The predictive model(s) are leveraged to detect and determine user-specific preferences for, and preferences against, particular attributes, features, ingredients, aesthetic styles, and so on.

A minimally-invasive atopic dermatitis test method comprises the steps of: applying, to the skin of a subject, a microneedle patch including a plurality of microneedles made of a biodegradable hyaluronic acid polymer and having a solid core structure and a bottom layer which is a base on which the plurality of microneedles are formed; maintaining the microneedle patch attached to the skin of the subject for a predetermined time; separating the microneedle patch from the skin of the subject after a predetermined time has passed to input the microneedle patch to a quantitative test; reading the amount of interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 adsorbed onto the surface of the microneedles of the microneedle patch in the quantitative test step; and evaluating atopic dermatitis activity on the basis of the reading of the amount of interleukin-4 and interleukin-13.

The present invention is based on the discovery of genetic polymorphisms that are associated with psoriasis and related pathologies. In particular, the present invention relates to nucleic acid molecules containing the polymorphisms, including groups of nucleic acid molecules that may be used as a signature marker set, such as a haplotype, a diplotype, variant proteins encoded by such nucleic acid molecules, reagents for detecting the polymorphic nucleic acid molecules and proteins, and methods of using the nucleic acid and proteins as well as methods of using reagents for their detection.

Methods of identifying potential skin moisturizing actives for the treatment of dry skin and method of formulating a moisturizing skin care composition using actives identified by the method. Moisturizing agents can be identified by comparing the transcriptional profile of a skin tissue sample contacted by a test agent to a negative or positive control to determine if the regulation of certain genes corresponds to the appropriate direction of regulation indicated by the control. Agents identified as skin moisturizing agents can then be incorporated into a skin moisturizing composition.