Elevated levels of soluble CD8 antigen in sera of patients with psoriasis--a possible sign of suppressor/cytotoxic T-cell activation.

Increased levels of the soluble CD8 antigen probably represent a sign of suppressor T-cell activity. The concentration of CD8 was measured in the sera of patients with psoriasis without psoriatic arthritis (n = 25) and atopic dermatitis (n = 26), exhibiting moderate to severe disease activity, in comparison with nonatopic healthy controls (n = 31) using an ELISA technique. CD8 levels were found to be significantly elevated in psoriatic patients as compared with healthy controls (p less than or equal to 0.002). Increase in CD8 may be due to suppressor T-cell activation in the skin of patients with psoriasis.