Increased angiogenesis and VEGF expression correlates with disease severity in prurigo patients

Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) is known as the major skin angiogenesis factor and can be produced by various resident skin cells including keratinocytes.

To identify and characterize the role of VEGF-A in the pathogenesis of prurigo.

Expression of VEGF, VEGFR2, CD-31, and D2-40 was analyzed in the skin of eleven prurigo patients and seven healthy controls by immunohistochemistry.

VEGF immunoreactivity (IR) was markedly increased in the epidermis, dermis and subcutis of prurigo patients, whereas expression of the main receptor for VEGF-A in the skin, VEGFR2, was comparable to that of healthy controls. The increased VEGF expression in the skin was associated with a marked increase in the number (12.8 ± 2.1 vs 5.6 ± 0.5, P < 0.05) but not in the size of blood vessels, as assessed by staining of the endothelial cell marker CD31. This increase in small blood vessels correlated closely with increases in the epidermal thickness in prurigo lesions. The number of lymphatic vessels as assessed by D2-40 staining was found to be similar in prurigo patients and healthy controls.

Based on these findings, we speculate that the observed profound vascular remodelling in prurigo might contribute to the pathogenesis of prurigo and the corresponding clinical symptoms and that targeting of VEGF may present a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of prurigo patients.