Premium
Elafin is induced in epidermis in skin disorders with dermal neutrophilic infiltration: interleukin‐1β and tumour necrosis factor‐α stimulate its secretion in vitro
Author(s) -
Tanaka N.,
Fujioka A.,
Tajima S.,
Ishibashi A.,
Hirose S.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2133.2000.03766.x
Subject(s) - infiltration (hvac) , epidermis (zoology) , elafin , secretion , tumor necrosis factor alpha , necrosis , medicine , interleukin , pathology , cytokine , immunology , anatomy , physics , thermodynamics
Background Elafin, an elastase inhibitor produced by keratinocytes, is overexpressed in the subcorneal region of skin affected by psoriasis, a major feature of which is epidermal infiltration by neutrophil leucocytes. Objectives We studied the expression of elafin in the epidermis in other skin disorders characterized by dermal neutrophil infiltration and in skin disorders with dermal lymphocyte infiltration. Patients/methods We examined biopsies from the lesional skin of patients with Behçet’s syndrome, Sweet’s syndrome, pyoderma gangrenosum, cutaneous allergic vasculitis and acute bacterial infection (cellulitis), and from the skin of patients with chronic prurigo, discoid lupus erythematosus and psoriasis. We performed in vitro experiments using cultured keratinocytes treated with mediators such as interleukin (IL) ‐1β, tumour necrosis factor (TNF) ‐α, IL‐6, neutrophil elastase and interferon (IFN) ‐γ. Results Anti‐elafin antibody showed a strong reaction with the subcorneal region of the epidermis in patients with Behçet’s syndrome, Sweet’s syndrome, pyoderma gangrenosum, cutaneous allergic vasculitis and acute bacterial infection (cellulitis), but showed no reaction in skin from patients with dermal lymphocyte infiltration such as is seen in chronic prurigo and discoid lupus erythematosus. The in vitro experiments demonstrated that treatment with IL‐1β and TNF‐α resulted in 2·6‐fold and 4‐fold stimulation of elafin secretion, respectively, whereas IL‐6, neutrophil elastase and IFN‐γ caused no significant changes in elafin release. Conclusions These results suggest that inflammatory mediators such as IL‐1β or TNF‐α secreted by dermal neutrophils may be involved in overexpression of elafin in keratinocytes; this could protect the epidermis from degradation by dermal neutrophil infiltration.