Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42493753›Full record

ReviewAmerican journal of clinical dermatology2026

The Role of Skin Surface pH in Age Associated Pruritus: Mechanistic and Clinical Insights.

Rafal M Pielak, Daniel C Butler

Abstract readReview
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In one paragraph

Review in American journal of clinical dermatology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Rafal M PielakSoteri Skin, Inc., El Cerrito, CA, USA.
Daniel C ButlerDepartment of Dermatology, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson, Tucson, AZ, USA. dcbutler@arizona.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Skin aging is characterized by progressive structural and biochemical changes that impair epidermal barrier function, alter the cutaneous microbiome, and predispose to chronic pruritus. Epidermal thinning, reduced lipid synthesis, and slowed barrier repair increase transepidermal water loss and vulnerability to irritation. Concurrently, age-related disruption of the acid mantle leads to elevation of skin surface pH, impairing acid-dependent lipid-processing enzymes while enhancing serine protease activity. These changes disrupt lamellar organization, weaken stratum corneum cohesion, and further compromise barrier integrity. Elevated pH and barrier dysfunction also reshape the skin microbiome. These changes favor alkalinity-tolerant and proinflammatory species while reducing protective commensals, thereby reinforcing inflammation and sensory irritation. Barrier impairment, dysbiosis, and pH-driven protease activation converge with neuroimmune dysregulation to sensitize peripheral nerves and promote chronic itch. Important contributors include kallikrein-protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR2) signaling and cytokines such as interleukin-31. This review highlights the pH-protease-itch axis as a unifying framework for pruritus in aging skin and discusses restoration of physiological acidity as a rational therapeutic strategy.

Indexed as

EpidermisPruritusSkinSkin AgingAnimalsHumansHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationKallikreinsReceptor, PAR-2Signal TransductionSkin MicrobiomeWater Loss, InsensibleF2RL1 protein, humanKallikreinsReceptor, PAR-2

Identifiers

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.