Increased concentration of beta-endorphin in sera of patients with psoriasis and other inflammatory dermatoses.
Serum beta-endorphin was quantified by radioimmunoassay in 71 patients with psoriasis vulgaris, other chronic inflammatory skin diseases with T-cell infiltrates [atopic dermatitis (n = 25), and systemic sclerosis (n = 34)], and 100 healthy subjects. The neuropeptide was found to be markedly (P < 0.001) increased in patients with psoriasis (14.4 pg/ml), atopic dermatitis (9.2 pg/ml) and systemic sclerosis (9.8 pg/ml) compared with normal controls (6.1 pg/ml). The highest values of beta-endorphin were found in patients with actively spreading plaque psoriasis (17.3 pg/ml), whereas lesion-free patients showed a reduction in neuropeptide concentration (10.2 pg/ml). The levels were much higher in patients with widespread psoriatic lesions (> 60% body surface; 16.2 pg/ml), which lasted longer than 3 months (15.8 pg/ml), whereas neither the presence of stress nor itching correlated with the serum peptide concentration. Our data suggest that beta-endorphin is produced in psoriatic lesions by inflammatory cells, rather than the increased levels being the result of activation of the pituitary-adrenal axis by chronic stress. The generation of neuropeptide in psoriatic lesions and its antinociceptive effect on the peripheral sensory nerves might explain why pruritus is a relatively rare phenomenon in psoriasis.
Glinski
W
W
Department of Dermatology, Warsaw School of Medicine, Poland.
Brodecka
H
H
Glinska-Ferenz
M
M
Kowalski
D
D
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000097:blood*; D001615:beta-Endorphin / Q000097:blood*
D001615:beta-Endorphin