ISSN:
1365-2133
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Serum beta-endorphin was quantified by radioimmunoassay in 71 patients with psoriasis vulgaris, other chronic inflammatory skin diseases with T-cell infiltrates [atopic dermatitis (n=25), and systemic sclerosis (n=34)], and 100 healthy subjects. The neuropeptide was found to be markedly (P〈0.001) increased in patients with psoriasis (14.4 pg/ml), atopic dermatitis (9.2 pg/ml) and systemic sclerosis (9.8 pg/ml) compared with normal controls (6.1 pg/ml). The highest values of β-endorphin were found in patients with actively spreading plaque psoriasis (17.3 pg/ml), whereas lesion-free patients showed a reduction in neuropeptide concentration (10.2 pg/ml), The levels were much higher in patients with widespread psoriatic lesions (〉60% body surface; 16.2 pg/ml), which lasted longer than 3 months (15.8 pg/ml), whereas neither the presence of stress nor itching correlated with the serum peptide concentration.Our data suggest that β-endorphin is produced in psoriatic lesions by inflammatory cells, rather than the increased levels being the result of activation of the pituitary-adrenal axis by chronic stress. The generation of neuropeptide in psoriatic lesions and its antinociceptive effect on the peripheral sensory nerves might explain why pruritus is a relatively rare phenomenon in psoriasis.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.1994.tb08502.x
