Abstract: Objective To find out the material base of the induction and aggravation of psoriasis by psycological factors such as stress and depression etc. Methods Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to determine the effect of sera from 49 psoriatic patients and 34 healthy controls on the suppression of the lymphocyte transformation of normal mouse lymphocytes. Results The lymphocyte transformation rate of mouse lymphocytes treated with the sera of psoriatic patients was 41.55%, and that of controls was 68.09%. The suppressive effect of sera in patients during the progressive stage and with more extensive lesions were stronger than that in the stable stage and with less lesions (P<0.01, r=0.4939). The lymphocyte transformation rate was increased after adding neuro immune protein (NIP) monoclonal antibody to the sera of patients with psoriasis. Conclusion The authors suggest that there is a factor which can suppress lymphocyte transformation existed in psoriatic patients serum, and it is similar to NIP, which can be neutralized by NIP monoclonal antibody, but the relationship between NIP and the pathogenesis of psoriasis remains to be studied.

Key words: Psoriasis, Neuro-immune protein, Lymphocyte transformation