| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2014 | Volume
: 57
| Issue : 2 | Page : 205-208 |
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Expression of tumor necrosis factor-α and nuclear factor-kappaB/RelA and the pathogenesis of psoriasis
Nikhil Moorchung1, Biju Vasudevan2, N. S. Mani1, Rajesh Verma2
1 Department of Pathology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2 Department of Dermatology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Nikhil Moorchung
Department of Pathology, Armed Forces Medical College, Sholapur Road, Pune - 411 040, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0377-4929.134664
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Context: Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is an important mediator in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) is a transcription factor that regulates the activity of the proinflammatory genes. Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease and the role of TNF-α and NF-κB, should be considerable. Aims: We studied the role of TNF-α and NF-κB in psoriasis. Materials and Methods: A total of 61 cases of psoriatic skin biopsies were studies and the grade of TNF-α and NF-κB, staining was correlated with the histopathological indices of severity. Statistical Analysis Used: Pearson's correlation coefficient and Chi-square test. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 13 was used. Results: The TNF-α immunostain in the cytoplasm of the epidermal cells and basal cells showed a strong inverse correlation with the grade of epidermal hyperplasia (P -0.019 and P -0.009, respectively). The epidermal cytoplasmic positivity and lymphocyte positivity for TNF-α did not correlate with the grade of NF-κB immunostaining in the epidermal cell nuclei, basal cells or lymphocytes. The basal cell cytoplasmic positivity for TNF-α correlated with the grade of NF-κB immunostaining in the nucleus of basal cells at a P - 0.005. There was a strong correlation between the epidermal cytoplasmic TNF-α immunostaining with the lymphocyte immunostaining (P -0.08); however, there was no correlation between the TNF-α expression in the other two locations. Conclusions: The study outlines the relationship between NF-κB and TNF-α and their combined role in the development of the characteristic histopathological changes in psoriasis. We hypothesize that NF-κB is involved in stimulating the release of TNF-α which would account for the characteristic histopathological changes of psoriasis. However, it is likely that NF-κB can act independently of TNF-α also in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. |
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