Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015:2015:854747.
doi: 10.1155/2015/854747. Epub 2015 Feb 3.

IL-31 is overexpressed in lichen planus but its level does not correlate with pruritus severity

Kalina Welz-Kubiak  1 , Anna Kobuszewska  1 , Adam Reich  1
Affiliations

IL-31 is overexpressed in lichen planus but its level does not correlate with pruritus severity

Kalina Welz-Kubiak et al. J Immunol Res. 2015.

Abstract

Background: Pruritus is one of the major features of lichen planus (LP); however, its pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Objective. The aim of our study was to analyze the role of IL-31 in the pathogenesis of pruritus in LP.

Materials and methods: The study group included 22 patients with LP. Control group consisted of 14 healthy volunteers. All subjects underwent thorough examination. Pruritus severity was evaluated with the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the 12-item Itch Questionnaire. IL-31 expression in the skin was assessed using semiquantitative immunofluorescence analysis.

Results: Pruritus maximal intensity according to VAS was 6.5 ± 2.7 points and according to the 12-item Itch Questionnaire 6.9 ± 2.8 points. Lesional LP skin showed significantly higher IL-31 expression compared to healthy skin (P < 0.001). The most abundant immunofluorescence was observed within granular layer. However, there was no correlation between expression of IL-31 and pruritus intensity assessed according to VAS (VASmax: ρ = -0.08, P = 0.73), as well as 12-item Itch Questionnaire: ρ = -0.11, P = 0.65.

Conclusions: Pruritus is a very common symptom of LP. For the first time we have demonstrated that IL-31 is overexpressed in the lesional skin of LP but its expression does not correlate with intensity of pruritus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression of IL-31 was found in the entire epidermis of lichen planus lesions ((a)–(c): patient 1, (d)–(f): patient 2) in comparison to no expression in healthy skin ((g)–(i): volunteer 1, (j)-(k): volunteer 2) ((a), (d), and (g): hematoxylin/eosin staining of fresh-frozen section, (b), (e), (h), and (j): anti-IL-31 immunostaining, and (c), (f), (i), and (k): DAPI staining, original magnification ×100).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the mean immunofluorescence intensity of anti-IL-31 staining between lichen planus and healthy skin (SE: standard error, SD: standard deviation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lehman J. S., Tollefson M. M., Gibson L. E. Lichen planus. International Journal of Dermatology. 2009;48(7):682–694. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2009.04062.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reich A., Welz-Kubiak K., Szepietowski J. C. Pruritus differences between psoriasis and lichen planus. Acta Dermato-Venereologica. 2011;91(5):605–606. - PubMed
    1. Reich A., Welz-Kubiak K. The importance of pruritus in lichen planus. Acta Dermato-Venereologica. 2011;91(5):p. 634. - PubMed
    1. Schmelz M., Schmidt R., Bickel A., Handwerker H. O., Torebjörk H. E. Specific C-receptors for itch in human skin. Journal of Neuroscience. 1997;17(20):8003–8008. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Imamachi N., Goon H. P., Lee H., et al. TRPV1-expressing primary afferents generate behavioral responses to pruritogens via multiple mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2009;106(27):11330–11335. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0905605106. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types