Tissue expression of IL‐17A and FOXP3 in acne vulgaris patients
Azza Gaber Antar Farag, Alaa Hassan Maraee, Dalia Rifaat Al‐Sharaky, Mustafa Elsayed Elshaib, Marwa Samir Mohamed Kohla, Wafaa Ahmed Shehata
Abstract
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: ) regulatory T (Treg) cells, play a vital role in the immune balance in inflammatory disorders. Therefore, assessment of both IL-17 and FOXP3 in acne vulgaris (AV), a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous unit, could be of value in understanding AV pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of IL-17A and FOXP3 in acne vulgaris lesions versus normal skin. METHODS: Forty-five AV patients and 25 controls were included in this case-control study. Biopsies from participants were analyzed for IL-17A and FOXP3 immunohistochemical profiles using IL-17A and FOXP3 polyclonal antibodies. RESULTS: Compared to controls, AV patients exhibited a significant increase of IL-17A percent of expression in epidermis (P ≤ .001), in lymphocytes in papillary dermis (P ≤ .001), and in perifollicular lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate in AV lesions. Also, there was a significant elevation in FOXP3 percent of expression in epidermis (P = .049) and in lymphocytes in papillary dermis (P ≤ .027) in acne patients than control. A significant positive correlation between IL-17A expression in papillary lymphocytes and in epidermal keratinocyte was observed (r = .537, P = .001). In acne vulgaris patients, the associations between IL-17A and FOXP3 expressions could not reach level of significance. CONCLUSIONS: There was an up-regulation of IL-17A and FOXP3 in acne vulgaris development, but with independent roles. Moreover, targeting of IL-17A and FOXP3 may open the door for development of new therapeutic agents in acne vulgaris treatment.