Detection of autophagy in peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytes and skin lesions of patients with herpes zoster / 中华皮肤科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe changes in expression of autophagy proteins in peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytes and the epidermis of skin lesions,as well as generation of autophagy vesicles in epidermal cells in skin lesions of patients with herpes zoster,and to explore the relationship between varicella-herpes zoster virus (VZV) infection and autophagy.Methods Totally,35 patients with herpes zoster were enrolled from Department of Dermatology,General Hospital of Southern Theater Command of PLA between December 2017 and December 2018,including 20 males and 15 females.Their age ranged from 18 to 79 (59.23 ± 9.27) years,pain duration was 5.14 ± 2.28 days,and lesion duration (from the onset of the lesion to the clinic visit) was 3.45 ± 1.77 days.Flow cytometry was performed to determine the expression of autophagy proteins including microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B (LC3B),Beclin-1 and p62 in peripheral blood CD4 + T lymphocytes of these patients.Thirty healthy adults served as control group.Lesional skin tissues were obtained from 12 patients with herpes zoster,and perilesional normal skin tissues of the same patient served as the control.Immunohistochemical study was conducted to determine the expression of autophagy proteins LC3B,Beclin-1 and p62 in epidermal tissues,and transmission electron microscopy to observe the generation of autophagy vesicles in epidermal cells.Two independent-sample t-test was carried out for intergroup comparison.Results The expression rates of autophagy proteins LC3B and Beclin-1 in peripheral CD4 + T lymphocytes were significantly higher in the herpes zoster group (61.23％ ± 7.61％,35.84％ ± 4.22％,respectively) than in the control group (36.56％ ± 4.27％,15.34％ ± 1.89％,respectively;t =15.75,24.56 respectively,both P ＜ 0.01),while the expression rate of p62 (5.75％ ± 0.67％) was significantly lower in the herpes zoster group than in the control group (10.03％ ± 1.15％,t =18.65,P ＜ 0.01).Among the 12 patients with herpes zoster,the expression levels of LC3B and Beclin-1 in the epidermis were significantly higher in the skin lesions than in the perilesional normal skin tissues (t =2.86,4.58,P ＜ 0.05),but the expression level of p62 was significantly lower in the skin lesions than in the perilesional normal skin tissues (t =2.43,P ＜ 0.05).Transmission electron microscopy showed formation of autophagy vesicles containing virus particles in epidermal cells in the skin lesions of 12 patients with herpes zoster,and vesicle counts were significantly higher in the skin lesions than in perilesional normal skin tissues (t =9.67,P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The autophagy level was elevated in peripheral CD4+ T lymphocytes and epidermis of skin lesions of patients with herpes zoster.