Effect of donor age on response of skin grafts to gamma-interferon.
BACKGROUND
Failure of aged human epidermis to induce HLA-DR antigens after intradermal administration of gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) has recently been observed.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the study was to find out whether this observation reflects an intrinsic impairment in the aged skin or is rather due to an environmental factor.


METHODS
Aged and young human skin grafted onto nude mice were injected with IFN-gamma, and the induction of HLA-DR, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and Langerhans cell (LC) migration patterns were studied.


RESULTS
Increased surface expression of both HLA-DR and ICAM-1 molecules by epidermal cells was observed in all grafts, after IFN-gamma injections, whereas a decrease in LC was found only in the young grafts.


CONCLUSIONS
This study may indicate that the lack of response of aged skin to IFN-gamma is due to both intrinsic impairment in epidermal cell function and changes in function of cells outside the epidermis such as lymphocytes and endothelial cells.
Gilhar
A
A
Skin Research Laboratory, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Aizen
E
E
Pillar
T
T
Etzioni
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004817:Epidermis / Q000276:immunology; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007801:Langerhans Cells / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1; D007371:Interferon-gamma