High serum levels of HIF-1α in psoriatic patients correlate with an over-expression of IL-6.

Angiogenesis has been considered to be an important step in the initiation and progression of chronic diseases such as psoriasis. The hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α), a critical hypoxia-induced factor that regulates angiogenesis has been shown previously to be over-expressed in psoriasis skin both at the mRNA and protein level. In this report we confirm HIF-1α and IL-6 over-expression in psoriatic patients using immunoenzymometric assay and found that the expression of HIF-1α is closely correlated with IL-6 expression (r = 0.61 and p = 0.005), suggesting a close interaction of HIF-1α and IL-6 in the psoriasis immuno-microenvironment. Our findings merit further in vitro and in vivo work before solid suggestions can be made for therapeutic interventions that target HIF-1α pathway and/or IL-6.