Abstract:

Chen Wenjuan, Gu Junying, Gong Yu, Liu Zhiyu, Xu Hui, Xiong Huizi, Shi Yuling. Department of Dermatology, Shanghai Tenth People′s Hospital of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China Corresponding author: Shi Yuling, Email: shiyuling1973@gongji.edu.cn 【Abstract】 Objective To investigate changes in expressions of activation antigens CD69 and HLA-DR in CD3+ T lymphocytes in peripheral blood and skin lesions in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Methods Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 20 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 20 healthy controls, and skin specimens from the lesions of 15 out of the 20 patients and 10 healthy controls. Flow cytometry was performed to quantify the expressions of CD69 and HLA-DR in peripheral blood CD3+ T cells, and an immunohistochemical study to measure the expression of HLA-DR in skin specimens. Statistical analysis was carried out by a two-sample t-test and Pearson correlation analysis with the SPSS 19.0 software. Results Compared with the healthy controls, the patients with psoriasis vulgaris showed increased expression rates of CD69 （4.70% ± 1.90% vs. 1.56% ± 0.95%, t = 6.629, P < 0.01） and HLA-DR （8.97% ± 1.79% vs. 3.02% ± 1.15%, t = 6.204, P < 0.01） in peripheral blood. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the percentage of CD3+HLA-DR+ cells in peripheral blood was positively correlated with the psoriasis area and severity index （PASI） score （r = 0.5626, P < 0.05）. The expression rate of HLA-DR was significantly higher in the dermis （64.87% ± 17.31% vs. 19.80% ± 5.69%, t = 7.916, P < 0.01）, but lower in the epidermis （11.80% ± 5.55% vs. 27.40% ± 8.61%, t = 5.479, P < 0.01） in the psoriatic specimens compared with the control specimens. Immunohistochemically, HLA-DR was widely expressed in the dermis of psoriatic lesions, but mainly distributed around blood vessels in the control skin. Conclusions There is an aberrant activation of CD3+ T cells in peripheral blood and inflammatory cells in skin lesions in patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and the percentage of CD3+HLA-DR+ cells in peripheral blood is correlated with the severity of psoriasis vulagaris.