Rosacea is one of the most frequent diagnoses in dermatology. First, this chronic inflammatory skin disease clearly has a genetic component which is of unknown origin as of yet. Additionally, rosacea can be triggered by many external/environmental factors such as ultraviolet radiation, spicy food, alcohol, stress, temperature changes etc. It is interesting to note that - being a progressive chronic inflammatory skin disease - the development of rosacea is characterized by multiple clinical conditions such as transient or persistent erythema, telangiectasia, lymphedema and later fibrosis. Morphologically, rosacea is characterized by a lympho-monocytic infiltrate. However, activated keratinocytes, fibroblasts and mast cell suggest that the pathophysiology of this disease is very complex, and involves almost all skin and immune cells. That being said, rosacea appears to be also a very good “model” for learning more about the complexity of neuro-immune interactions, dysregulated inflammatory mechanisms and immunity, as well as vascular dysregulation during inflammation, and the development of fibrotic processes during chronic inflammation.

Indeed, evidence is evolving that in chronic inflammatory diseases a close molecular and cellular interaction exists between innate immune defence mechanisms, nerves, immune as well as blood and lymphatic endothelial cells. It is important to highlight, that the treatment of this common disease is still unsatisfactory and which demands a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Consequently, this symposium will focus on understanding the molecular clusters of different body systems (immune, nervous, vascular, connective) during chronic inflammatory processes, in order to find new strategies for the treatment of rosacea and other inflammatory or fibrotic skin diseases.

Program
For a PDF version of the Program, please click here.

Introduction
Martin Steinhoff (Germany/USA)

Clinical Update on Rosacea
Martin Schaller (Germany)

Innate Immune System in Rosacea
Jürgen Schauber (Germany)

Role of the Vascular Symstem in Inflammatory Skin Diseases
Michael Detmar (Switzerland)

Role and Mechanisms of Action of Activin in Wound Repair, Fibrosis and Skin Cancer
Sabine Werner (Switzerland)

Neuroimmunological Aspects of Rosacea
Martin Steinhoff (Germany/USA)

Questions & Answers/Closing Remarks
Martin Steinhoff (Germany/USA)