Psoriatic skin lesions contain a novel lipid neutrophil chemokinetic compound which is distinct from known chemoattractant eicosanoids.

1. Lipid extracts of scale from the lesions of the skin disease psoriasis were purified by high performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.). Assay of fractions by an agarose microdroplet method showed the presence of a novel neutrophil chemokinetic compound which possessed the chromatographic properties of a monohydroxy fatty acid, yet was distinct from the chemoattractant eicosanoid, 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, previously isolated in psoriasis. 2. The novel, material, termed compound X, was also detected in fractions collected on h.p.l.c. of extracts of chamber fluid samples obtained from abraded psoriatic lesions, but was not detectable in samples from clinically normal skin. 3. Comparison of the straight and reversed phase h.p.l.c. retention times of compound X with those of a range of standard monohydroxy fatty acids, together with further analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and assay of selected standards for neutrophil chemokinetic activity, failed to reveal the structural identity of compound X. 4. The finding of a further compound in psoriatic lesions, which stimulates neutrophil movement, highlights the complexity of inflammatory mediator production in this disease.