title: Effectiveness of pimecrolimus cream for women patients with sensitive skin and its underlying mechanism.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effectiveness of pimecrolimus cream 1% for sensitive skin in adult women and its underlying mechanisms.
  
  
  METHODS
  The changes of subjective symptoms and signs were evaluated before and after the application of pimecrolimus cream 1% based on the severity of pruritus (SP) and severity of burning sensation (SB) scores, and on a basic syntax and molecular substrate (molecular psychophysics) of nociception and proprioception established by temperature-sensitive transient receptor potential (TRP) channels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SP and SB scores were significantly decreased in 32 patients with sensitive skin after using topical pimecrolimus cream 1% (P<0.05). Twenty (62.5%) patients showed positive capsaicin-like response (i.e. burning with consequent rapid amelioration of pruritus or burning sensation) and 6 (18.8%) showed positive camphor-like response (i.e. warming with consequent rapid amelioration of pruritus) on application sites after using the topical pimecrolimus cream 1%, and 6 (18.8%) showed negative capsaicin-like response and/or negative camphor-like response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pimecrolimus may rapidly inhibit or alleviate itch or burning sensation of patients with sensitive skin. The therapeutic effect of pimecrolimus is relevant to the mechanisms that activate or sensitize transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and desensitizes TRPV1 in the skin sensory afferents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatoloy, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China. zhiqx@sohu.com
authors.forename: Zhi-qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yu-zhen
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Lan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011537:Pruritus / Q000188:drug therapy; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050916:TRPV Cation Channels; C494484:TRPV1 receptor; C117268:pimecrolimus; D016559:Tacrolimus