title: Elevated Local and Serum CX3CL1(Fractalkine) Expression and Its Association with Disease Severity in Patients with Psoriasis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Psoriasis is a chronic immune and inflammatory skin disease. Fractalkine (FKN, CX3CL1), a membrane-bound CX3C chemokine, has been identified to play an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. However, whether it is elevated in the tissue or peripheral blood of patients with psoriasis and is associated with disease severity is unclear. This study was carried out to explore local and serum FKN expression in patients with psoriasis and investigate the relationship with the disease severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum samples were collected from 47 plaque psoriasis patients and 49 healthy individuals. Serum FKN levels were measured by an enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. The PASI scores of patients with psoriasis and their correlation with serum FKN levels were evaluated. 16 cases of local skin tissues were collected from psoriasis patients and controls who underwent traumatic incidents needing autologous skin grafting, respectively. FKN protein and mRNA expression were examined using Western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Local and serum expression of FKN were significantly higher than the expression in the controls (P<0.05), serum FKN levels were positively associated with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores, (P<0.001) and levels of IL-22 (P<0.001) and IFN-γ (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that FKN may play an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and represent a reliable biomarker to reflect disease severity. Therapeutic interventions that target FKN in psoriasis deserve further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China jcjmed@yeah.net.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Congjun
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yanmei
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huiling
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhen
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shuo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D054428:Chemokine CX3CL1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C515538:CX3CL1 protein, human; D054428:Chemokine CX3CL1