Chen Wenchieh, Lee J Yu-Yun, Hsieh Wen-Chuan
Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Sheng-Li Road 138, 704 Tainan, Taiwan.
Eur J Dermatol. 2002 Sep-Oct;12(5):445-8.
The cause or mechanism of the female predisposition in systemic lupus erythematosus and progressive systemic sclerosis is largely unknown. Accumulating evidence shows that dysfunction or activation of endothelial cells plays an important role in these conditions. In this study, we investigated the influence of various steroid hormones on the IL-1beta (50 U/mL)/TNF-alpha (50 U/mL) stimulated human dermal microvascular endothelial cell line (HMEC-1) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Dexamethasone showed significant inhibition of cytokine-induced ICAM-1 expression in HMEC-1, and E-selectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expressions in HUVEC. Androgens, especially dihydrotestosterone had a small, but statistically significant suppressive effect in HMEC-1 only. Estrogen exhibited no regulatory function in either cell line. No obvious expression of estrogen and androgen receptors could be demonstrated in either cell by immunostaining. Our study provided some pharmacological evidence that the superior anti-inflammatory effect of glucocorticoids on vasculitis was partly due to their inhibition of the CAM expression in endothelial cells. More studies are needed to determine if androgens could have a protective effect in vasculitis or vasculopathy associated with connective tissue diseases.
系统性红斑狼疮和进行性系统性硬化症中女性易患的原因或机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。越来越多的证据表明，内皮细胞功能障碍或激活在这些疾病中起重要作用。在本研究中，我们研究了各种类固醇激素对白细胞介素-1β（50 U/mL）/肿瘤坏死因子-α（50 U/mL）刺激的人真皮微血管内皮细胞系（HMEC-1）和人脐静脉内皮细胞（HUVEC）的影响。地塞米松显著抑制细胞因子诱导的HMEC-1中细胞间黏附分子-1（ICAM-1）的表达，以及HUVEC中E-选择素、血管细胞黏附分子-1（VCAM-1）和ICAM-1的表达。雄激素，尤其是二氢睾酮仅在HMEC-1中具有微小但具有统计学意义的抑制作用。雌激素在两种细胞系中均未表现出调节功能。通过免疫染色在两种细胞中均未显示出明显的雌激素和雄激素受体表达。我们的研究提供了一些药理学证据，表明糖皮质激素对血管炎的卓越抗炎作用部分归因于它们对内皮细胞中细胞黏附分子表达的抑制。需要更多研究来确定雄激素是否对与结缔组织疾病相关的血管炎或血管病变具有保护作用。
