Kowalczyk Michał Jacek, Teresiak-Mikołajczak Ewa, Dańczak-Pazdrowska Aleksandra, Żaba Ryszard, Adamski Zygmunt, Osmola-Mańkowska Agnieszka
Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Psoriasis and Novel Therapies in Dermatology Unit, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
Department of Dermatology, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
Med Sci Monit. 2017 Jan 28;23:505-512. doi: 10.12659/msm.897985.
BACKGROUND Morphea, also known as localized scleroderma, is a rare autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by skin fibrosis. UVA1 phototherapy is an important asset in the reduction of clinical manifestations in morphea. There are studies claiming that UV light modulates the expression of some human endogenous retroviral sequences. The aim of this study was to determine if the expression of HERV-K10 gag element is lowered by UVA1 phototherapy in morphea, a disease in which such irradiation has a soothing effect. MATERIAL AND METHODS The expression levels of the HERV-K10 gag were assessed by real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and skin-punch biopsies of healthy volunteers and 9 morphea patients before and after phototherapy. Additionally, correlations between the HERV-K10 gag expression and age, disease duration, the Localized Scleroderma Skin Severity Index (LoSSI), and antinuclear antibody (ANA) titers were assessed. RESULTS In PBMC, HERV-K10 gag mRNA was significantly elevated after UVA1 phototherapy compared to healthy controls. Most of the patients responded with an increased expression level of this sequence. However, we found no statistical evidence at this point that phototherapy indeed has an effect on the HERV-K10 gag expression (there were no statistical differences in PBMC of morphea patients before and after phototherapy). Similarly, there was no statistically relevant effect of the UVA1 on the expression of HERV-K10 gag in skin. CONCLUSIONS At this point, the effect of UVA1 phototherapy on the expression of HERV-K10 gag cannot be statistically confirmed.
硬斑病，也称为局限性硬皮病，是一种罕见的以皮肤纤维化为特征的自身免疫性结缔组织病。UVA1光疗是减轻硬斑病临床表现的一项重要手段。有研究称紫外线可调节某些人类内源性逆转录病毒序列的表达。本研究的目的是确定在硬斑病（一种紫外线照射有舒缓作用的疾病）中，UVA1光疗是否能降低HERV-K10 gag元件的表达。材料与方法：通过实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）评估健康志愿者和9例硬斑病患者在光疗前后外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）和皮肤打孔活检组织中HERV-K10 gag的表达水平。此外，还评估了HERV-K10 gag表达与年龄、病程、局限性硬皮病皮肤严重程度指数（LoSSI）和抗核抗体（ANA）滴度之间的相关性。结果：与健康对照组相比，UVA1光疗后PBMC中HERV-K10 gag mRNA显著升高。大多数患者该序列的表达水平升高。然而，此时我们没有统计学证据表明光疗确实对HERV-K10 gag表达有影响（硬斑病患者光疗前后PBMC中无统计学差异）。同样，UVA1对皮肤中HERV-K10 gag的表达也无统计学相关影响。结论：此时，UVA1光疗对HERV-K10 gag表达的影响无法得到统计学证实。
