Research Article
IL-31 Serum Protein and Tissue mRNA Levels in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis
Song Kim, Hyun-Je Kim, Hee Seung Yang, Eugene Kim, Ik-Soo Huh, Jun-Mo Yang
Published:
November 01, 2011
DOI:
10.5021/ad.2011.23.4.468
License:
Copyright © 2011 Korean Dermatological Association; The Korean Society for Investigative Dermatology2011This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
BackgroundSevere pruritus is the primary symptom in atopic dermatitis (AD). Recently, the novel cytokine IL-31 has been implicated in the itching associated with AD.ObjectiveWe performed this study to determine whether IL-31 serum levels are elevated in AD patients and to better characterize the relationship between serum IL-31 level and other established laboratory parameters.MethodsWe recruited 55 AD patients, 34 with allergic type AD and 21 with non-allergic type AD, and 38 healthy, non-atopic controls. We checked the laboratory values, severity score, and serum IL-31 levels in all patients and controls, and IL-31 mRNA levels in lesion skin were measured in 13 subjects with AD and in four controls.ResultsAD patients displayed significantly higher levels of serum IL-31 that were associated with serum IgE, disease severity, and subjective itch intensity. In AD patients, IL-31 mRNA levels from the lesional skin samples also correlated with serum IL-31 level.ConclusionIL-31 is likely one of the many mediators inducing inflammation and pruritus in AD. Although our limited sample size prevents us from making any definitive conclusions, our data demonstrate a strong correlation between IL-31 mRNA level and serum IL-31 protein level, which has never been reported before. Moreover, we found correlations between serum IL-31 level and serum IgE, eosinophil cationic protein, disease severity, and subject itch intensity in certain degrees in AD patients.