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Increased serum IL‐6, TNF‐alpha and IL‐10 levels in patients with bullous pemphigoid: relationships with disease activity
Author(s) -
D'Auria L.,
Mussi A.,
Bonifati C.,
Mastroianni A.,
Giacalone B.,
Ameglio F.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3083.1999.tb00801.x
Subject(s) - medicine , bullous pemphigoid , tumor necrosis factor alpha , cytokine , interleukin 6 , alpha (finance) , interleukin , blisters , immunology , antibody , surgery , construct validity , patient satisfaction
Aim The present report analyzes the serum levels of three cytokines, interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐alpha) and interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) in 15 patients with bullous pemphigoid (BP) (compared with 20 healthy controls) to evaluate a possible involvement of these biological modulators in the clinical expression of this disease. Background BP is a rare, bullous disease of autoimmune origin with evidence of inflammatory processes that cause skin lesions with local increase of various pro‐inflammatory mediators. Methods Determination of cytokine concentrations were obtained employing commercially available ELISA kits. Results The sera of BP patients showed increased levels of these three cytokines ( P < 0.01). When the number of skin lesions (blisters and/or erosion) of each patient, employed as a marker of disease activity, was correlated with the serum levels of IL‐6 and TNF‐alpha, significant correlations were found (IL‐6: P < 0.01 and TNF‐alpha: P < 0.01, respectively), suggesting a possible role of these mediators in the development of BP blisters. The serum levels of IL‐6 also correlated ( P = 0.01) with those of serum C reactive protein (CRP), an acute‐phase protein induced by IL‐6 in hepatocytes. In addition, serum TNF‐alpha and sE‐selectin (an adhesion molecule previously reported to be increased by this cytokine) levels were also correlated ( P < 0.05). Conclusions On the basis of these data, it may be indicated that at least IL‐6 and TNF‐alpha are associated with the clinical expression of BP and that the endothelial activation (possibly induced by the TNF‐alpha activity), seems to be an important phase of this dermatosis.