Background:
Bullous pemphigoid (bp) often provokes blood and tissue eosinophilia, which suggests that some chemoattractants modulate the eosinophil infiltration in bp. eotaxin, a cc chemokine, strongly attracts eosinophils, and interleukin (il)-5 induces eosinophil differentiation, proliferation and colony formation in vitro.
Objectives:
To examine the correlation between levels of eotaxin and il-5 and the number of lesional eosinophils, and the expression of eotaxin in bp lesions.
Patients/methods:
In this study we measured eotaxin and il-5 levels in blister fluid of bp by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. we also examined the expression of eotaxin in bp lesions by immunohistochemistry.
Results:
Both eotaxin and il-5 were detected at high levels in bp blister fluid. blister fluid eotaxin, but not il-5 levels, correlated significantly with the number of dermal infiltrating eosinophils. by immunohistochemistry, eotaxin was strongly expressed in epidermal keratinocytes around bp blisters.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that eotaxin and il-5 are strongly associated with the tissue eosinophilia of bp. therapies which aim to inhibit production of eotaxin and il-5 may improve the inflammation and blister formation in bp.