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Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Human In-Vivo Bioassay for the Tissue-Specific Measurement of Nociceptive and Inflammatory Mediators
Published on: December 1, 2008
Modified skin window technique for the extended characterisation of acute inflammation in humans
D J B Marks1, M Radulovic, S McCartney
1Department of Medicine, University College London, London, WC1E 6JJ, UK. d.marks@ucl.ac.uk
Objective:
To modify the skin window technique for extended analysis of acute inflammatory responses in humans, and demonstrate its applicability for investigating disease.
Subjects:
15 healthy subjects and 5 Crohn's patients.
Treatment:
Skin windows, created by dermal abrasion, were overlaid for various durations with filter papers saturated in saline, 100 ng/ml muramyl dipeptide (MDP) or 10 microg/ml interleukin-8 (IL-8).
Methods:
Exuded leukocytes were analyzed by microscopy, immunoblot, DNA-bound transcription factor arrays and RT-PCR. Inflammatory mediators were quantified by ELISA.
Results:
Infiltrating leukocytes were predominantly neutrophils. Numerous secreted mediators were detectable. MDP and IL-8 enhanced responses. Many signalling proteins were phosphorylated with differential patterns in Crohn's patients, notably PKC alpha/beta hyperphosphorylation (11.3 +/- 3.1 vs 1.2 +/- 0.9 units, P < 0.02). Activities of 44 transcription factors were detectable, and sufficient RNA isolated for expression analysis of over 400 genes.
Conclusions:
The modifications enable broad characterisation of inflammatory responses and administration of exogenous immunomodulators.
