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Cutaneous PGP 9.5 distribution patterns in hidradenitis suppurativa

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and density of the nerve fibre-marker protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5), with immunohistochemistry, in skin from patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Punch biopsies were obtained from 16 patients; 10 with involvement of the groin and six with axillary disease. Specimens were taken from HS lesions in the groin or axilla, clinically non-involved skin and from 12 healthy control subjects. Coded slides were observed in the microscope and PGP 9.5 positive nerve fibre profiles (profiles) as well as PGP 9.5 positive cells (cells) were counted. The overall impression was that the median number of profiles was decreased in lesional epidermis, yet statistically significant only in the groin (p = 0.0014). The median number of profiles in dermis was significantly decreased in lesional skin of the axilla, whereas in the groin there were contradictory findings with significantly increased number of profiles in upper dermis and non-significant in mid and lower dermis. The number of cells with strong immunofluorescence was few or absent in epidermis, but increased in dermis in the lesional skin. This difference was statistically significant throughout the dermis in specimens from the groin (p < 0.01) and showed the same trend, although not significant, in the axilla. The PGP 9.5 immunofluorescent cells were not yet further investigated, so it is not exactly known what cell type they represent. In conclusion, despite several study limitations, the findings indicate that PGP 9.5 positive nerve fibres could be involved in the pathogenesis of HS. Both regarding the profiles and the cells, further studies remain to show if these differences are primary events, or secondary to e g chronic inflammation, which is considered a major issue of HS.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Cancer and Allergy Foundation (Cancer-och Allergifonden), the Help Foundation (Hjälpfonden), Stiftelsen Tornspiran, Edvard Welander Foundation, Finsen Foundation and Karolinska Institutet. We thank Marianne Ekman, The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Insitutet, and Gun-Britt Karlberg, Department of Dermatology, Karolinska University Hospital, for excellent technical assistance, and Margareta Krook-Brandt, Department of Learning, Informatics Management and Ethics (LIME), Karolinska Institutet, for help with the statistical analyses.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Sartorius, Lennart Emtestam & Jan Lapins

  2. Section of Dermatology, Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institutet, Södersjukhuset, 118 83, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Sartorius

  3. The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Olle Johansson

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  1. Karin Sartorius
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Correspondence to Karin Sartorius.

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Sartorius, K., Emtestam, L., Lapins, J. et al. Cutaneous PGP 9.5 distribution patterns in hidradenitis suppurativa. Arch Dermatol Res 302, 461–468 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-010-1028-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-010-1028-5

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