title: Plasma concentrations of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in psoriatic patients before and after local treatment with dithranol ointment.
abstract: IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha plasma levels were measured before and after local treatment in 27 patients. Twenty healthy subjects served as controls. Plasma concentrations of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha were significantly higher before treatment (178.7 +/- 11.9 pg/ml and 31.9 +/- 11.6 pg/ml, respectively) compared to the control group (139.6 +/- 7.86 pg/ml and 17.1 +/- 7.7 pg/ml, respectively). After treatment IFN-gamma levels were significantly decreased (151.3 +/- 8.3 pg/ml) toward the control group values and TNF-alpha levels were observed even lower than in the controls (11.48 +/- 6.8 pg/ml). No correlations were found between age, duration of psoriasis and plasma levels of cytokines. However, IFN-gamma levels were related, although not significantly, to disease severity (evidenced by the PASI score). The data support the important proinflammatory role of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in the clinical manifestation of psoriasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chodorowska
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000875:Anthralin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D000875:Anthralin