Serum eosinophil cationic protein, myeloperoxidase, tryptase, eotaxin and Th2-L-like cytokines in Dermatitis herpetiformis.

Background: Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a subepidermal bullous disease characterized by a neutrophilic and eosinophilic infiltrate, together with activated lymphocytes that show preferential polarization towards the Th2-like phenotype. To date, the role of neither soluble mediators, such as cytokines, nor serum levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and tryptase (TRY) have been studied in the peripheral blood of DH. In this study we investigated 40 DH subjects for possible alterations in MPO, ECP, TRY, eotaxin, interleukin (IL) 4 and IL-5 concentrations to evaluate the role of neutrophils, eosinophils and mast cells in the induction of skin lesions.