The chemokinetic response of psoriatic and normal polymorphonuclear leukocytes to arachidonic acid lipoxygenase products.

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from ten patients with chronic stable plaque psoriasis, five of whom had more than 40% skin involvement and five with less than 20% involvement, responded in a dose-related fashion to stimulation with the arachidonic acid lipoxygenase products 5- and 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5- and 12-HETE) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) in an in vitro chemokinesis assay. There was no significant difference in either the random migration or the chemokinetic response of psoriatic PMN to LTB4 when compared to the responses of PMN from a group of age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Psoriatic PMN migrated further in response to low doses of 5- and 12-HETE although the distance moved after maximal stimulation was no different to that observed in controls. No significant difference was observed in the responses of PMN obtained from patients with less than 20% skin involvement when compared to those with more extensive psoriasis. The small differences measured between the chemokinetic responses of psoriatic and control PMN to the lipoxygenase products tested are unlikely to be of pathogenetic significance.