Bayramgürler Dilek, Ozkara Sevgiye Kaçar, Apaydin Rebiay, Erçin Cengiz, Bilen Nilgün
Department of Dermatology, Kocaeli University, School of Medicine, Izmit, Turkey.
J Cutan Pathol. 2004 Oct;31(9):586-94. doi: 10.1111/j.0303-6987.2004.00234.x.
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are expressed by most living cells and play fundamental roles in many biological processes. Their synthesis increases by a variety of stresses in order to enable cellular survival. Although it is known that they play an important role in immune and inflammatory responses of the skin, the role of HSPs in the pathogenesis of skin diseases has been studied in only limited skin diseases. Lichen planus (LP) is a relatively common papulosquamous dermatosis, and cell-mediated immunity plays an important role in its pathogenesis. Although an altered expression of certain HSPs was reported in oral LP lesions, the expression of HSPs in cutaneous lesions of LP has not been investigated. In this immunohistochemical study, we aimed at investigating the role of HSPs in the pathogenesis of LP by studying whether there is any difference in HSP expression in cutaneous lesions of LP when compared to normal skin and psoriasis vulgaris (PV).
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded skin biopsy specimen blocks from LP patients (n = 39), patients with psoriasis (n = 20), and normal skin controls (n = 20) were used in the study. Antibodies to HSPs 60 and 70 were applied immunohistochemically by using streptavidin-biotin-horseradish peroxidase complex. An immunoreactivity intensity distribution index (IRIDI) was calculated to express the proportion of the immunoreactive cells as well as the staining intensity in different layers of the epidermis.
The mean IRIDI scores for HSP60 expression in the basal, suprabasal, and superficial epidermal layers of cutaneous LP were moderately higher than those of normal skin, but not different from those of PV skin. These scores for HSP70 in lesions of LP were moderately lower than those for normal skin in the basal layer, but not significantly different from normal in the other two layers. Scores for HSP70 in PV lesions were markedly lower in all three layers. In the cells of the inflammatory infiltrates (mostly lymphocytes), HSP60 scores for LP were moderately higher, compared to those for PV, whereas scores for HSP70 were much lower for LP and very much lower for PV.
Significantly altered levels of HSP proteins were found in cutaneous LP lesions in comparison with normal skin and psoriasis, suggesting the role of HSPs in the pathogenesis of LP.
热休克蛋白（HSPs）由大多数活细胞表达，并在许多生物学过程中发挥重要作用。它们的合成会因多种应激而增加，以确保细胞存活。尽管已知它们在皮肤的免疫和炎症反应中起重要作用，但HSPs在皮肤病发病机制中的作用仅在有限的皮肤病中得到研究。扁平苔藓（LP）是一种相对常见的丘疹鳞屑性皮肤病，细胞介导的免疫在其发病机制中起重要作用。尽管有报道称某些HSPs在口腔LP病变中表达改变，但LP皮肤病变中HSPs的表达尚未得到研究。在这项免疫组织化学研究中，我们旨在通过研究LP皮肤病变与正常皮肤及寻常型银屑病（PV）相比，HSPs表达是否存在差异，来探讨HSPs在LP发病机制中的作用。
本研究使用了来自LP患者（n = 39）、银屑病患者（n = 20）和正常皮肤对照者（n = 20）的福尔马林固定石蜡包埋皮肤活检标本块。采用链霉亲和素-生物素-辣根过氧化物酶复合物免疫组织化学方法应用抗HSP60和HSP70抗体。计算免疫反应强度分布指数（IRIDI），以表示免疫反应细胞的比例以及表皮不同层的染色强度。
皮肤LP的基底、基底上层和浅表表皮层中HSP60表达的平均IRIDI评分略高于正常皮肤，但与PV皮肤无差异。LP病变中HSP70在基底层的评分略低于正常皮肤，但在其他两层与正常皮肤无显著差异。PV病变中HSP70在所有三层的评分均明显较低。在炎症浸润细胞（主要是淋巴细胞）中，LP的HSP60评分略高于PV，而LP的HSP70评分则低得多，PV的则极低。
与正常皮肤和银屑病相比，LP皮肤病变中HSP蛋白水平有显著改变，提示HSPs在LP发病机制中起作用。
