Park Hyun Jeong, Kim Ji Eun, Lee Jun Yong, Cho Baik Kee, Lee Wang Jae, Kim Taesng, Yoon Doyoung, Cho Daeho
Department of Dermatology, St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Immunol Lett. 2004 Aug 15;95(1):57-61. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2004.06.011.
Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is an 18-kDa cytokine produced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages or Kupffer cells. In addition, IL-18 is also produced by many different types of cells and tissues, including epidermal keratinocytes, the adrenal cortex, and the brain. IL-18 acts on the immune system to increase IFN-gamma production from T and NK cells to enhance NK cell cytotoxicity and to activate Th1 cell proliferation. It is considered that the tissue expression of cytokines and cell adhesion molecules such as ICAM-1 are common in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Recent evidence suggests that IL-18 is a cytokine relevant in the pathogenesis of GVHD. Despite the potential importance of IL-18 in GVHD, the distribution of IL-18 production in cutaneous GVHD has not been fully investigated. In this study, the expression of IL-18 in the cutaneous GVHD was investigated. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were obtained, and immunohistochemical analysis was performed to detect IL-18 and ICAM-1 expression according to the acute and chronic GVHD. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the enhanced IL-18 expression levels in the early stage (grade 1) of acute GVHD and the late stage (sclerodermoid) of chronic GVHD compared to the other stages. In contrast, the ICAM-1 expression level was constant at all stages. Our findings indicate that IL-18 is a significant pathogenic indicator in cutaneous GVHD, and the tissue expression of IL-18 seems to be associated with the pathogenesis of acute and chronic GVHD.
