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Relationship between biochemical factors and skin symptoms in chronic venous disease

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Abstract

Chronic venous disease (CVD) is a common venous disease of the lower extremities and patients often develop symptoms of itching and skin roughness. An easy to use and objective skin examination was recently developed that allows measurement of the level of stratum corneum content and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), which can indicate the status of the barrier function of the stratum corneum. Previous studies demonstrated that histamine production from mast cells, and tryptase and matrix metalloprotease-9 levels were associated with skin inflammation. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between dry skin and inflammatory mediators that mediate the skin symptoms of CVD subjects. The study enrolled 27 subjects with CVD and a control group consisting of 9 volunteers. The itching onset frequency was higher in women (70.4%) compared with men (50.0%). To analyze the mechanisms involved in itching we measured blood inflammatory mediators pre- and post-sclerotherapy. There was a significant decrease in Substance P, histamine, IgE, and tryptase levels post-sclerotherapy compared with those at pre-sclerotherapy. These levels were associated with the severity of itching. In addition, compared with the control subjects, there was a significant increase in the stratum corneum water content and a decrease in the TEWL in the 27 patients with CVD. This was associated with a decrease in the itching symptoms. Our findings indicate that sclerotherapy decreased levels of inflammatory mediators, increased stratum corneum water content and decreased TEWL, which coincided with reduced itching in CVD patients, indicating they might be therapeutic targets.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, Mie Heart Center Hospital, 2227-1 Ooyodo, Meiwa, Taki, Mie, 515-0302, Japan

    Yasushi Takai

  2. Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 3500-3 Minamitamagaki, Suzuka, Mie, 513-8607, Japan

    Yasushi Takai

  3. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 3500-3 Minamitamagaki, Suzuka, Mie, 513-8607, Japan

    Keiichi Hiramoto & Kazuya Ooi

  4. Cardiovascular Surgery, Mie Heart Center Hospital, 2227-1 Ooyodo, Meiwa, Taki, Mie, 515-0302, Japan

    Yoshiyuki Nishimura

Authors
  1. Yasushi Takai
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  2. Keiichi Hiramoto
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  3. Yoshiyuki Nishimura
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  4. Kazuya Ooi
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Correspondence to Kazuya Ooi.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in the study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Bioethical Committee of Mie Heart Center and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Takai, Y., Hiramoto, K., Nishimura, Y. et al. Relationship between biochemical factors and skin symptoms in chronic venous disease. Arch Dermatol Res 309, 253–258 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-017-1721-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-017-1721-8

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