Abstract: Objective To study the production and distribution of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) in the skin and sera of patients with psoriasis and their roles in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Methods Levels of VEGF and MCP-1 in sera were measured using double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in patients with psoriasis. The expression and distribution of VEGF and MCP-1 in psoriatic lesions, non-lesional skin and normal controls were detected by immunohistochemical method. Results ①The expression of VEGF in lesional skin and non-lesional skin of psoriasis patients was higher than that in normal controls. Levels of MCP-1 were increased in lesional skin than those in non-lesional skin and normal controls.②Serum levels of VEGF were significantly increased in psoriasis as compared with normal control. There was no significant difference in serum levels of MCP-1 between patients and controls.③There was no correlation between the expression of MCP-1 or VEGF of psoriatic lesion and PASI index. Conclusion Overexpression of two cytokines, VEGF and MCP-1, known to promote new blood vessel formation may contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

Key words: Psoriasis, Endothelial growth factors, Chemokines,CC