Premium
Immunophenotyping of inflammatory cells in subacute prurigo
Author(s) -
Gambichler T,
Skrygan M,
Werries A,
Scola N,
Stücker M,
Altmeyer P,
Kreuter A
Publication year - 2011
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.1468-3083.2010.03763.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immunophenotyping , cd8 , cd68 , pathology , cd34 , dermis , immunohistochemistry , cd15 , cd3 , flow cytometry , immune system , immunology , biology , stem cell , genetics
Abstract Background Subacute prurigo (SP) is a relatively common disease of papular cutaneous lesions that itch intensely. However, there is a lack of systematic clinical and histological studies on SP. Objectives We aimed to immunophenotype inflammatory cells in SP using immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry. Methods Lesional and non‐lesional skin of 21 patients with SP was investigated. Immunohistochemical staining for CD1a, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD15, CD34, CD68, and anti‐human tryptase (AHT) was performed. In order to evaluate the absolute counts and percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of SP patients, flow cytometric methods were used. Results Compared to non‐lesional skin, there was a significant increase of the median percentage of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ cells in the lesional dermis (12.6% vs. 19.7%, P = 0.044; 0.8% vs. 3.7%, P = 0.016; and 1% vs. 15.6%, P = 0.0039, respectively). The mean ± SD CD4+/CD8+ ratio was 0.58 ± 0.6. Median percentage of CD15+ cells was significantly increased in lesional skin as compared to non‐lesional skin (11.7 vs. 1%, P = 0.027). Median percentage immunoreactivity of CD68+ cells was significantly increased in lesional dermis as compared to non‐lesional skin (32.5% vs. 9.4%, P = 0.0005). CD1a, CD34, and AHT positive cells did not significantly differ between lesional and non‐lesional skin. T lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of SP patients did not show significant pathologies. Conclusions We observed that the inflammatory cell infiltrate in SP mainly consists of T lymphocytes, particularly CD8+ cells, CD15+ neutrophils, and CD68+ macrophages.