Distribution of human B-defensin 2, TNF-alpha, IL-1 alpha, IL-6 and IL-8 in psoriatic skin

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, proliferative condition of the skin, clinically characterized by red, scaly plaques. Psoriasis has a large and heterogenous genetic and immunologic background with the dysregulation of the host defense system. The human keratinocytes obtained from psoriasis lesions are a very rich source to various antimicrobial peptides. Both Th 17 and Th 1 pathways play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Our aim of the study was to evaluate the expression of human beta defensin 2 and TNF alpha in correlation with interleukins 1 alpha, 6 and 8 in the skin biopsies of psoriatic lesions. We evaluated 14 <i>Psoriasis vulgaris</i> patients’ skin samples. Skin biopsies were obtained using a routine punch method. All the tissue specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and by immunohistochemistry for human beta defensin 2, TNF-alpha, IL-1 alpha, IL-6 and IL-8. We graded the intensity of staining semiquantitatively. We observed intraepithelial lymphocytes, marked the diffuse intradermal infiltrates of inflammatory cells, the inflammatory cells in the hair follicle, surrounding sweat glands and subepithelial blood vessels. Defensin-containing and TNF-alpha positive cells were found in all the skin samples: defensin-containing cells varied from few to abundant positive structures in the visual field and TNF-alpha positive cells varied from few to numerous positive structures in the visual field. IL-1 alpha expressed poorly, while IL-6 positive cells were found in the range from few positive to the abundance of positive structures in the visual field and IL-8 positive structures varied from numerous positive structures to the abundance of positive structures in the visual field. We conclude that IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha are most common cytokines for psoriatic skin lesions. A moderate number of structures expresses the antimicrobial protein defensin in the psoriatic skin.