A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF THE KOEBNER REACTION AND LYMPHOCYTES-T IN UNINVOLVED PSORIATIC SKIN

  • 1 January 1988
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 68  (5) , 430-434
Abstract
T lymphocyte and dendritic cell subpopulations were counted in untraumatized, uninvolved skin of 27 patients with psoriasis. Eight of the patients proved to be Koebner-positive, as determined by tape stripping and punch biopsy, and 19 Koebner-negative. In the epidermis the CD4/CD8 T cell ratio was significantly higher in the Koebner-positive vis-a-vis Koebner-negative patients (median CD4/CD8 = 1.68 and 0.75, respectively: p < 0.05). This resulted from a small increase in CD4 and a larger decrease in CD8 epidermal T cells in the Koebner-positive group. However, numbers of epidermal dendritic cells did not differ significantly between the two groups. In the dermis the CD4/CD8 T cell ratio was also higher in the Koebner-postivie than in Koebner-negative patients (median of 3.56 and 2.57, respectively). These findings demonstrate that the tendency of uninvolved skin of psoriatic individuals to become lesional after trauma is associated with a predominance of CD4 over CD8 T cells in the epidermis. (Received February 12, 1988.).