Expression of survivin and p53 genes in patients with alopecia areata: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Alopecia areata is a common non-scarring hair loss disorder. It has been generally recognised as a loss of immune privilege leading to an autoimmune attack upon anagen hair follicles. Survivin is one of the apoptosis inhibitor proteins, responsible for apoptosis suppression and cell cycle regulation. Survivin expression has been demonstrated in the matrix and outer root sheath keratinocytes of anagen hair follicles. Survivin overexpression was shown in several autoimmune diseases, and it was postulated that it contributes to the survival of self-reactive T and B cells. P53 is a tumour suppressor gene that was suggested to repress autoimmunity via induction of T regulatory cells. Survivin gene expression is transcriptionally suppressed by wild-type p53. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate survivin and p53 genes expression in alopecia areata patients. METHODS: The mRNA tissue expression of survivin and p53 was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in lesional and non-lesional punch scalp biopsies of 25 alopecia areata patients and 25 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The study showed higher mRNA expression of survivin in lesional biopsies compared to non-lesional (P < 0.001) and control biopsies (P = 0.001). In non-lesional biopsies, the expression was significantly lower than in control biopsies (P < 0.001). The expression of p53 was lower in both lesional and non-lesional biopsies relative to control biopsies. However, the difference was only significant in non-lesional biopsies (P = 0.017). CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that survivin and p53 genes expression was altered in patients with alopecia areata.

Serum level of interleukin-22 in patients with cutaneous warts: A case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Warts are viral cutaneous infections caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), presented by verrucous growth over the skin surface. The immune response is considered to play a crucial role in HPV clearance. It depends on intact cellular immunity including natural killer (NK) cell and cytotoxic T cells. It has been clarified that T-helper (Th) 1 cytokines (interleukin (IL)-2, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-a) and IL-17 are involved in HPV clearance. IL-22 is one of IL-10 family of cytokines produced by NK cells, Th1, Th17, and Th22 cells. In the skin, IL-22 reduces keratinocyte cornification and enhances keratinocyte production of antimicrobial peptides. IL-22 overexpression has been demonstrated in various viral infections and skin inflammatory disorders. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess serum levels of IL-22 in patients with warts and its association with their different clinical characteristics. METHODS: The study included 20 patients with warts and 20 control subjects. Serum concentration of IL-22 was measured by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay. RESULTS: Serum levels of IL-22 were significantly higher in patients with warts than in control subjects (P < .001). The levels were significantly higher in patients with recurrent warts after prior treatment than in patients with first-time warts (P = .007). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was detected between serum levels of IL-22 and the number of warts (P = .017). CONCLUSION: Serum level of IL-22 was elevated in patients with warts. Thus, IL-22 may have a crucial role in the antiviral immune response against this infection.