Letter to Editor: Chemokine Network Involved in Inflammatory Skin Diseases

Chemokines are low-molecular-weight chemotactic proteins that regulate the trafficking of leukocytes to inflammatory sites and may recruit inflammatory cells to the epidermis. Chemokines are produced by many immune cells such as macrophages, mast cells, T lymphocytes and others, in response to pro-inflammatory stimuli including IL-1, TNF and LPS. Immune cells which participate in inflammatory skin disorders, upon activation express several adhesive and immune receptors such as P-selectin, CD40 ligand, and Toll-like receptors on their surface, and generate cytokines/chemokines. Chemokines have crucial functions in inflammation, and cell dysregulations and they are recognized as potentially important in diverse skin pathologies associated with the severity of disease. Injection of chemokines in the rat skin provoke the recruitment of inflammatory cells, release of cytokines, and activation of transcription of histidine decarboxylase (HDC), the enzyme responsible for the generation of histamine from histidine, which may cause fatal anaphylactic shock. Therefore, the use of anti-chemokines for inflammatory skin diseases remains a promising therapeutic approach. However, the complete role of chemokines in inflammatory skin diseases remains to be further studied. Here we report the relationship between chemokines and skin inflammation.