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Lymphocyte subtypes and adhesion molecules in actinic prurigo: observations with cyclosporin A
Angela Umaña1, Alberto Gómez, María Mélida Durán
1Instituto de Genética Humana, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Carrera 7 No. 40-62, Bogotá, Colombia. aumana@javeriana.edu.co
Background:
Actinic prurigo is a photodermatitis in which UV light is implicated by an unknown mechanism.
Methods:
Skin biopsies of 19 patients with actinic prurigo and 11 controls were analyzed by immunohistochemistry.
Results:
In actinic prurigo patients, there was a significant increase in the number of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD45RA, CD45RO, and CD45RB lymphocytes and Langerhans cells, as well as in the level of human leukocyte antigen-DR (HLA-DR) expression and cell adhesion molecules lymphocyte functional antigen-1 (LFA-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1). Actinic prurigo patients were treated with cyclosporin A (CsA), and a final skin biopsy was taken after 6 months of treatment. All the cell populations and markers studied, except for the CD4 lymphocytes, Langerhans cells, and HLA-DR expression, returned to normal levels.
Conclusions:
CsA was found to be effective in relieving the clinical symptoms of actinic prurigo.