Studying of the interleukin-36γ expression level in the skin of patients with plaque psoriasis

Abstract

Currently, it has been established that the cytokines of the IL-36 family occupy a significant place in the initiation and regulation of the inflammatory process in psoriasis.Objective: studying the expression level of IL-36γ cytokines in the skin of patients with plaque psoriasis.Material and methods. Skin biopsy specimens of 31 patients with plaque psoriasis were studied. The comparison group consisted of 20 biopsy samples of the skin of patients with lichen simplex, discoid eczema, lichen planus, mycosis fungoides (plaque stage). As a control group studied the skin bioptates of 10 healthy people. An immunohistochemical study of the skin was carried out using anti-IL-36γ antibodies.Results. An increase in the relative expression area of IL-36γ in the affected skin of patients with plaque psoriasis (7.4 %) was found, compared with the unaffected areas (0.10 %) and the control group (0 %). The expression of IL-36γ in the skin of patients with psoriasis in the progressive period (8.85 %) was 1.42 times higher than in the stationary period of the disease (6.2 %). A strong direct relationship was revealed (r = 0.71) between the level of IL-36γ expression in the affected skin and the value of the PASI index, a moderate direct relationship between the level of IL-36γ expression and epidermal thickness (r = 0.34). In the affected skin of psoriasis patients, expressed expression of IL-36γ was observed in the upper layers of the epidermis, patients of the comparison group (discoid eczema, lichen simplex, lichen planus, mycosis fungoides) were weak or moderate, in the unaffected areas of the skin of patients with psoriasis and healthy people — weak or absent.Findings. It was found that the expression of IL-36γ in the skin of patients with plaque psoriasis is significantly higher than with other skin diseases. The data obtained allow us to consider this cytokine as a possible diagnostic marker and use it in the differential diagnosis.

Keywords

• plaque psoriasis
• lichen simplex
• lichen planus
• discoid eczema
• mycosis fungoides
• interleukin-36γ