title: Differential mRNA expression of antimicrobial peptides and proteins in atopic dermatitis as compared to psoriasis vulgaris and healthy skin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) are prone to have skin infections. We aimed to investigate mRNA expression levels of various antimicrobial peptides and proteins (AMPs) in AD patients, and compare it with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) patients and healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Skin biopsies were obtained from healthy subjects and patients with AD and PV. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was used to determine the mRNA levels of human beta-defensin (hBD)-1, hBD-2, hBD-3, LL-37, psoriasin, RNase 7, interferon-gamma, and interleukin-10 (IL-10).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Except for LL-37, mRNA of hBDs, psoriasin, and RNase 7 was significantly higher expressed in AD (n = 42) and/or PV (n = 35) patients when compared to controls (n = 18). While PV lesions showed significantly higher mRNA hBD-2 levels than lesions of AD, the latter was associated with significantly higher mRNA levels of RNase 7 when compared to PV. A significant positive correlation of hBD expression was observed both in AD patients and PV patients. hBD mRNA levels of AD skin correlated with psoriasin and RNase 7 levels. hBD-1 mRNA expression correlated with AD activity and IL-10 mRNA expression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most AMPs investigated in this study proved to be overexpressed in AD as well as PV when compared to controls. However, a statistically significant difference in AMP mRNA expression between AD and PV was only found for hBD-2 and RNase 7. A moderate-to-strong linear relationship between the mRNA expression of particular AMPs appears to exist in AD, and to a lesser extent in PV as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. t.gambichler@klinikum-bochum.de
authors.forename: Thilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gambichler
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skrygan
authors.forename: Nordwig S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Tomi
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Othlinghaus
authors.forename: Norbert H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Brockmeyer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Altmeyer
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kreuter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger