Differential IL-10 receptor gene expression in acute versus chronic atopic eczema. Modulation by immunosuppressive drugs and cytokines in normal cultured keratinocytes.

Objective And Design: The effects of the anticytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10) are mediated by specific receptors. In this study we examined the role of the IL-10 receptor (IL-10R) in the pathophysiology of atopic eczema.

Materials And Methods: For this purpose we analyzed the expression of IL-10R in the skin of patients with acute and chronic atopic eczema in comparison to the expression in healthy individuals using in situ binding experiments with fluorescently labeled IL-10 and semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR specific for IL-10R1.

Demonstration and functional analysis of IL-10 receptors in human epidermal cells: decreased expression in psoriatic skin, down-modulation by IL-8, and up-regulation by an antipsoriatic glucocorticosteroid in normal cultured keratinocytes.

The chronic skin disease psoriasis is characterized by epidermal hyperproliferation and inflammation. The exact etiology of the disease is still unknown. At the molecular level, overexpression of growth factors and proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-8 and the corresponding receptor has been described in psoriatic plaques.

1,25-(OH)2-vitamin D3 and calcipotriol induce IL-10 receptor gene expression in human epidermal cells.

Psoriasis is a common hyperproliferative and inflammatory skin disease with a prevalence of 0.5-3%. Lesional skin is characterized by pathological overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-8 and its receptor and the decreased presence of negative regulatory control factors like the anti-oncogene p53.