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
. 2025 May 2;15(5):738.
doi: 10.3390/life15050738.

Immunohistochemical Expression of Haptoglobin in Skin Lesions of Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Nessr Abu Rached  1   2 , Hanna Telkemeyer  1   2 , Marina Skrygan  1   2 , Martin Doerler  1   2 , Yannik Haven  1   2 , Lennart Ocker  1   2 , Daniel Myszkowski  1   2 , Thomas Meyer  1   2 , Markus Stücker  1   2 , Eggert Stockfleth  1   2 , Falk G Bechara  1   2
Affiliations

Immunohistochemical Expression of Haptoglobin in Skin Lesions of Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Nessr Abu Rached et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Meta-inflammation is a hallmark of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). Research on meta-inflammation in HS is growing, but there is still no research on haptoglobin as an inflammatory protein in lesional HS skin. This study examines the relationship between haptoglobin expression in HS skin lesions and clinical parameters.

Methods: An examination was performed on 44 skin samples from HS patients and 10 healthy skin samples. Clinical parameters were then compared with haptoglobin expression.

Results: Median haptoglobin expression was significantly higher in the Hurley stage III lesions compared with milder stages (H-score: 37.6 versus 17.1, p = 0.028). High haptoglobin expression (≥30.8% positive cells) was associated with advanced disease (Hurley stage III: 80% versus 41.7%, p = 0.01), active smoking (80% versus 50%, p = 0.039), increased pain (visual analogue scale: 5 versus 1.5, p = 0.03), and a higher prevalence of diabetes (35% versus 8.3%, p = 0.029) and hypertension (55% versus 25%, p = 0.042). No significant associations were found with the BMI, disease duration, or CRP levels.

Conclusions: High haptoglobin expression (positive cells ≥ 30.8%) in a skin lesion is associated with higher HS severity, active smoking, more pain and the comorbidities of diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension in HS patients.

Keywords: HS; diabetes mellitus; haptoglobin; hidradenitis suppurativa; inflammation; meta-inflammation; skin lesion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

N.A. received funding, travel support, or personal honoraria for lectures from Novartis Pharma, Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Recordati Rare Diseases Germany GmbH, Therakos (UK) Ltd. and Johnson & Johnson that were independent of the work submitted. F.G.B. has received honoraria for participation on advisory boards, in clinical trials, or as a speaker from AbbVie Inc., AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Acelyrin, Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Celltrion, Dr. Wolff, Incyte Corporation, Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Mölnlycke, MoonLake, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Sanofi, Sitala and UCB Pharma. E.S. has received lecture fees from Almirall, Leo, Pierre Favre, and Philips. L.O. has received honoraria as a speaker or travel support from Novartis Pharma GmbH, Incyte Biosciences Corporation, and Janssen. T.M. has received honoraria as a speaker from Novartis, Coldplasmatech and Hologic. The other authors (H.T., M.S., D.M., Y.H.) declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
All figures show immunohistochemical staining with haptoglobin. (a) Overview of healthy skin. (b) Healthy skin at 100× magnification. (c) Overview of lesional HS skin with little haptoglobin expression. (d) Lesional HS skin with little haptoglobin expression at 100× magnification. (e) Lesional HS skin with high haptoglobin expression at overview. (f) Lesional HS skin with high haptoglobin expression at 100× magnification.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Sabat R., Alavi A., Wolk K., Wortsman X., McGrath B., Garg A., Szepietowski J.C. Hidradenitis suppurativa. Lancet. 2025;405:420–438. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)02475-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sharma P. Inflammation and the metabolic syndrome. Indian J. Clin. Biochem. 2011;26:317–318. doi: 10.1007/s12291-011-0175-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. van de Vyver M. Immunology of chronic low-grade inflammation: Relationship with metabolic function. J. Endocrinol. 2023;257:e220271. doi: 10.1530/JOE-22-0271. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mintoff D., Agius R., Benhadou F., Das A., Frew J.W., Pace N.P. Obesity and hidradenitis suppurativa: Targeting meta-inflammation for therapeutic gain. Clin. Exp. Dermatol. 2023;48:984–990. doi: 10.1093/ced/llad182. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kanbay M., Yerlikaya A., Sag A.A., Ortiz A., Kuwabara M., Covic A., Wiecek A., Stenvinkel P., Afsar B. A journey from microenvironment to macroenvironment: The role of metaflammation and epigenetic changes in cardiorenal disease. Clin. Kidney J. 2019;12:861–870. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfz106. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources