Milner S M, Ortega M R
Institute for Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield 62794, USA.
Burns. 1999 Aug;25(5):411-3. doi: 10.1016/s0305-4179(98)00192-2.
Severely burned skin ceases to perform its natural protective role and surrenders itself as a nidus and portal for bacterial invasion. Antimicrobial peptides are part of a non-specific chemical defence system, separate from cellular and humoral immunity. Two of these peptides, human beta-defensins 1 and 2 have been recently found in skin and are produced by keratinocytes. Beta defensins have potent bactericidal activity against a wide spectrum of bacterial and fungal organisms commonly responsible for burn wound infections. To date, expression of beta defensins has not been examined in the human burn wound. Our findings demonstrate that expression of hBD-2 is greatly decreased in the burn wound whereas hBD-1 appears to be preserved. These results may have important implications in the pathogenesis and treatment of invasive burn sepsis.
严重烧伤的皮肤会停止发挥其天然保护作用，并成为细菌入侵的病灶和途径。抗菌肽是一种非特异性化学防御系统的一部分，与细胞免疫和体液免疫不同。最近在皮肤中发现了其中两种肽，即人β-防御素1和2，它们由角质形成细胞产生。β-防御素对多种通常导致烧伤创面感染的细菌和真菌具有强大的杀菌活性。迄今为止，尚未在人类烧伤创面中检测β-防御素的表达。我们的研究结果表明，hBD-2在烧伤创面中的表达大幅降低，而hBD-1的表达似乎得以保留。这些结果可能对侵袭性烧伤脓毒症的发病机制和治疗具有重要意义。
