Premium
In situ Expression of Interleukin‐6 in Psoriatic Epidermis during Treatment
Author(s) -
Ohta Yukinori,
Nishiyama Shigeo,
Nishioka Kiyoshi
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
the journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1346-8138
pISSN - 0385-2407
DOI - 10.1111/j.1346-8138.1994.tb01743.x
Subject(s) - epidermis (zoology) , lesion , in situ hybridization , psoriasis , cytokine , pathology , messenger rna , biology , hyperplasia , interleukin 6 , immunology , medicine , anatomy , gene , biochemistry
Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) is a multipotential cytokine which may act as a growth factor for keratinocytes. The epidermal hyperplasia of psoriasis may be explained in part by an overproduction of this cytokine. We have previously shown by in situ hybridization that IL‐6 mRNA is most strongly expressed in the peripheral lesion of an advancing psoriatic plaque. In the present study, we investigated whether there were differences between the expression of IL‐6 in untreated psoriatic epidermis and the lesion during the course of clinical improvement. In the untreated psoriatic lesion, the weak expression of IL‐6 mRNA was localized in the lower epidermis. However, IL‐6 mRNA was not detected in the clearly improved lesion. In the improving lesion, with clinically less scaling, less induration, and histologically thinner epidermis, IL‐6 mRNA‐expressing keratinocytes were detectable in a greater proportion of the total epidermal components than in the untreated, fully developed lesion. These results showed that IL‐6 mRNA was strongly expressed in lesions with moderate epidermal hyperproliferation, indicating that this cytokine may play a role in the transitional phase during the course of improvement as well as in the lesion's formation.