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Increased interleukin‐7 levels in the sera of psoriatic patients: lack of correlations with interleukin‐6 levels and disease intensity
Author(s) -
Szepietowski J. C.,
Bielicka E.,
Nockowski P.,
Noworolska A.,
Wa¸sik F.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2230.2000.00727.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immunology , psoriasis , interleukin , interleukin 1β , disease , interleukin 2 , intensity (physics) , cytokine , physics , quantum mechanics
Interleukin (IL)‐7 is a multifunctional cytokine which is involved in the regulation of keratinocyte–T lymphocyte interactions; the latter is an important factor in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. In vitro , IL‐7 is able to induce release of cytokines, including IL‐6; IL‐6 expression is known to be enhanced in psoriatic patients. Serum levels of IL‐7 and IL‐6 were measured by ELISA in 40 psoriatic patients and compared with cytokine levels in 18 healthy individuals. Serum levels of IL‐7 were also evaluated in 24 psoriatic patients during the remission of the disease after effective treatment. The IL‐7 and IL‐6 serum levels were significantly higher in psoriatic patients than in healthy subjects and the IL‐7 serum levels did not significantly decrease after treatment. Serum levels of IL‐7 did not correlate with PASI scores; however, a significant positive relationship was observed between IL‐6 levels and PASI scores. There was no correlation between increased levels of IL‐7 and IL‐6 in the sera of psoriatic patients, suggesting the lack of a direct link between these two cytokines in the psoriatic process. In conclusion, increased IL‐7 serum levels suggest that IL‐7, like IL‐6, may be involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, but in contrast with IL‐6, serum IL‐7 levels could not be used as a marker of disease activity in psoriatic patients.