Increased HMGB1 serum levels and altered HMGB1 expression in patients with psoriasis vulgaris

Abstract

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) has been implicated as a pro-inflammatory cytokine in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, information about HMGB1 in inflammatory skin diseases is unknown. Herein, we investigated the serum HMGB1 levels and tissue HMGB1 expression in patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and atopic dermatitis (AD). Serum levels of HMGB1 in patients with PV and AD were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of HMGB1 in lesional skin was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Protein levels of HMGB1 in the nuclear fraction and cytoplasmic fraction were determined by western blot. Serum levels of HMGB1 in patients with PV but not AD were significantly higher than those in nornal controls. Moreover, serum HMGB1 levels were correlated with the severity of PV according to PASI socres. Furthermore, by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, we showed that the expression of HMGB1 in normal skin was almost completely restricted to the nucleus. However, abundant cytoplasmic expression of HMGB1 was observed in the epidermis in lesional skin of PV patients. In addition, western blot data indicated that HMGB1 expression was in the nucleus protein and was absent in the cytoplasm protein in control group. In contrast, HMGB1 expression in the cytoplasmic fraction was detectable in AD patients and more distinct in PV patients. Taken together, this study provides first observations on the association of HMGB1 with PV, and showed the elevated HMGB1 serum levels and altered HMGB1 distribution in lesional skin in patients with PV. We suggest that HMGB1 might be involved in the pathogenesis of PV.

Resveratrol attenuates HMGB1 signaling and inflammation in house dust mite-induced atopic dermatitis in mice

“…HMGB1 is secreted actively by immune cells such as monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells [6]. A previous study suggested that the cytoplasmic HMGB1 existed in lesional skin of lupus erythematosus, psoriasis vulgaris and AD [26,27]. In our study, we also found that HMGB1 expression was up regulated in AD mice and treatment with resveratrol attenuated this process (Fig.…”

Involvement of high mobility group box‐1 in imiquimod‐induced psoriasis‐like mice model

“…Our previous work first investigated the involvement of HMGB1 with PV, and demonstrated the altered HMGB1 distribution in the epidermis and enhanced HMGB1 serum levels of PV patients . In this study, abundant expression of HMGB1 was also detected in cytoplasm of IMQ‐induced psoriatic skin lesions.…”

“…To investigate whether HMGB1 acts in other roles in the pathogenic mechanism of psoriasis, some preliminary studies have been carried out. Our published work demonstrated that the serum HMGB1 levels were markedly elevated in patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and significantly reduced after glycyrrhizin treatment . We also indicated that HMGB1 was abundantly expressed in the cytoplasm of the epidermis of PV patients .…”

“…Our published work demonstrated that the serum HMGB1 levels were markedly elevated in patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and significantly reduced after glycyrrhizin treatment . We also indicated that HMGB1 was abundantly expressed in the cytoplasm of the epidermis of PV patients . However, the roles of HMGB1 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis remain unclearly defined.…”

High mobility group box 1 is increased in the sera of psoriatic patients with disease progression

“…In particular, T‐helper (Th)‐1, Th‐17 and Th‐22 cell populations are expanded and stimulated to release inflammatory cytokines, including tumour necrosis factor‐a (TNF‐a), interleukin (IL)‐17 and IL‐22 . Increased production of these cytokines, chemokines and growth factors has been found to be present within the skin as well as in the circulation in psoriasis patients …”