Abstract
Psychological stress is known to aggravate inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and contact sensitivity by altering the cellular constituents of the immune system. The skin appendages function dually as prominent targets and sources of the peripheral corticotropin-releasing hormone-proopiomelanocortin (CRH-POMC) axis. In this study, we examined the expression level of CRH-POMC axis constituents in psoriasis, a well-known stress-related inflammatory skin disease. The 15 psoriasis patients and six normal controls were retrospectively selected after extensive review of their clinical records and skin biopsy specimens. We immunohistochemically analysed the expressivity of CRH, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) in various types of psoriatic lesions and control skin. A significant increase of CRH expression was observed in psoriatic lesions, which involved the entire epidermis (upper layer in particular), hair follicles and sweat glands compared with controls. Expression of ACTH and α-MSH was clearly stimulated in a subset of psoriasis patients compared with controls, but on the whole, lacked statistical significance. The immunoreactivity of CRH, ACTH and α-MSH in psoriasis was not dependent on its clinical subtype, duration or number of previous treatments. Compared with the definite increase of CRH expression in psoriasis, the expression of the POMC peptides was heterogenous with no overall significance. From the findings, we suggest that CRH, a key stress hormone, may play an important role in the pathomechanism of psoriasis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 104-109 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Experimental Dermatology |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 Feb 1 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- CRH-POMC axis
- Psoriasis
- Stress
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Dermatology
Cite this
Expression of the corticotropin-releasing hormone - Proopiomelanocortin axis in the various clinical types of psoriasis. / Kim, Jung Eun; Cho, Dae Ho; Kim, Hei Sung; Kim, Hee Jung; Lee, Jun Young; Cho, Baik Kee; Park, Hyun Jeong.
In: Experimental Dermatology, Vol. 16, No. 2, 01.02.2007, p. 104-109.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Expression of the corticotropin-releasing hormone - Proopiomelanocortin axis in the various clinical types of psoriasis
AU - Kim, Jung Eun
AU - Cho, Dae Ho
AU - Kim, Hei Sung
AU - Kim, Hee Jung
AU - Lee, Jun Young
AU - Cho, Baik Kee
AU - Park, Hyun Jeong
PY - 2007/2/1
Y1 - 2007/2/1
N2 - Psychological stress is known to aggravate inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and contact sensitivity by altering the cellular constituents of the immune system. The skin appendages function dually as prominent targets and sources of the peripheral corticotropin-releasing hormone-proopiomelanocortin (CRH-POMC) axis. In this study, we examined the expression level of CRH-POMC axis constituents in psoriasis, a well-known stress-related inflammatory skin disease. The 15 psoriasis patients and six normal controls were retrospectively selected after extensive review of their clinical records and skin biopsy specimens. We immunohistochemically analysed the expressivity of CRH, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) in various types of psoriatic lesions and control skin. A significant increase of CRH expression was observed in psoriatic lesions, which involved the entire epidermis (upper layer in particular), hair follicles and sweat glands compared with controls. Expression of ACTH and α-MSH was clearly stimulated in a subset of psoriasis patients compared with controls, but on the whole, lacked statistical significance. The immunoreactivity of CRH, ACTH and α-MSH in psoriasis was not dependent on its clinical subtype, duration or number of previous treatments. Compared with the definite increase of CRH expression in psoriasis, the expression of the POMC peptides was heterogenous with no overall significance. From the findings, we suggest that CRH, a key stress hormone, may play an important role in the pathomechanism of psoriasis.
AB - Psychological stress is known to aggravate inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis and contact sensitivity by altering the cellular constituents of the immune system. The skin appendages function dually as prominent targets and sources of the peripheral corticotropin-releasing hormone-proopiomelanocortin (CRH-POMC) axis. In this study, we examined the expression level of CRH-POMC axis constituents in psoriasis, a well-known stress-related inflammatory skin disease. The 15 psoriasis patients and six normal controls were retrospectively selected after extensive review of their clinical records and skin biopsy specimens. We immunohistochemically analysed the expressivity of CRH, adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) in various types of psoriatic lesions and control skin. A significant increase of CRH expression was observed in psoriatic lesions, which involved the entire epidermis (upper layer in particular), hair follicles and sweat glands compared with controls. Expression of ACTH and α-MSH was clearly stimulated in a subset of psoriasis patients compared with controls, but on the whole, lacked statistical significance. The immunoreactivity of CRH, ACTH and α-MSH in psoriasis was not dependent on its clinical subtype, duration or number of previous treatments. Compared with the definite increase of CRH expression in psoriasis, the expression of the POMC peptides was heterogenous with no overall significance. From the findings, we suggest that CRH, a key stress hormone, may play an important role in the pathomechanism of psoriasis.
KW - CRH-POMC axis
KW - Psoriasis
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846011400&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33846011400&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00509.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1600-0625.2006.00509.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 17222223
AN - SCOPUS:33846011400
VL - 16
SP - 104
EP - 109
JO - Experimental Dermatology
JF - Experimental Dermatology
SN - 0906-6705
IS - 2
ER -