Epidermal Langerhans cells in Actinic Prurigo: a comparison between lesional and non-lesional skin.
BACKGROUND
Actinic Prurigo (AP) is a chronic pruritic dermatosis of unknown cause affecting sun exposed skin in defined ethnic groups with characteristic MHC alleles. However, the cutaneous dendritic cells have not been assessed.


OBJECTIVE
To assess in situ the epidermal Langerhans Cell (LC) status in Actinic Prurigo.


METHODS
Fresh skin samples from three AP patients were used to evaluate in situ the epidermal LC, comparing lesional and non-lesional sites in each subject.


METHODS
AP patients attending the Dermatology Department at the Hospital M. Gea-Gonzalez in Mexico city.


METHODS
Lesional and non-lesional skin samples were taken from each subject to prepare both epidermal sheets and conventional tissue sections. Three markers restricted to LC in epidermis (CD1a, ATPase, MHC-II) were used to quantify the LC per area in epidermal sheets.


RESULTS
Compared to non-lesional skin from the same subject, a significant reduction in the number of LC per area of epidermis was found in lesional skin; with any of the three markers evaluated.


CONCLUSIONS
The frequency of epidermal LC decreases importantly in lesional skin from AP patients.
Calderón-Amador
J
J
Department of Cell Biology CINVESTAV-IPN, Mexico city.
Flores-Langarica
A
A
Silva-Sánchez
A
A
Donis-Maturano
L
L
Granados
J
J
Vega-Memije
E
E
Lacy-Niebla
R M
RM
Hojyo-Tomoka
T
T
Dominguez-Soto
L
L
Flores-Romo
L
L