Epigenetic treatment of dermatologic disorders

Healthy skin protects us against a multitude of insults, but injured or maladapted skin can lead to infection, inflammation, or worse. Fortunately, naturally occurring bioactive products, many commonly found in olive oil and other plant and vegetable extracts, have shown utility in treating skin and related diseases as well as conditioning the skin to maintain its healthy function. Powerful agents targeting nuclear regulatory pathways continue to hold promise as new or repurposed therapies for a wide variety of ills and skin conditions. Epigenetic approaches that activate Nrf2 to effect detoxification, redox balance, DNA repair, and mitochondrial function are noteworthy. Some of the disease applications being actively investigated range from eczema and psoriasis to skin cancer and diabetes-related wound healing to name just a few.