TY - JOUR

T1 - Measurements of AMPs in stratum corneum of atopic dermatitis and healthy skin-tape stripping technique

AU - Clausen, Maja-Lisa

AU - Slotved, H-C

AU - Krogfelt, Karen A

AU - Agner, Tove

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Decreased levels of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in atopic dermatitis (AD) have previously been reported and have been linked to the increased susceptibility to skin infections found in AD patients. This study intents to identify AMPs: hBD-2, hBD-3, RNase7, psoriasin and LL-37 in AD patients and healthy controls, and determine concentrations in consecutive depths of the outer most skin layers. Tape stripping was used on lesional and non-lesional skin. From each skin site, 35 consecutive tape strips were collected and pooled in groups of 5. Commercially available ELISA kits were used to determine AMP concentration in stratum corneum samples. hBD-2, hBD-3, RNase7 and psoriasin were identified in stratum corneum samples. hBD-3-level was markedly higher in AD non-lesional skin compared to healthy controls, and a similar trend was observed for RNase7. Most AMPs were distributed evenly through 35 tape strips, implying a homogeneous distribution of antimicrobial defense in the outer most skin layers. The findings indicate that AD patients may not suffer from a general baseline deficiency in AMPs, and that the innate immune defense is present throughout the stratum corneum, both insights of importance for understanding the role of AMPs in AD.

AB - Decreased levels of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in atopic dermatitis (AD) have previously been reported and have been linked to the increased susceptibility to skin infections found in AD patients. This study intents to identify AMPs: hBD-2, hBD-3, RNase7, psoriasin and LL-37 in AD patients and healthy controls, and determine concentrations in consecutive depths of the outer most skin layers. Tape stripping was used on lesional and non-lesional skin. From each skin site, 35 consecutive tape strips were collected and pooled in groups of 5. Commercially available ELISA kits were used to determine AMP concentration in stratum corneum samples. hBD-2, hBD-3, RNase7 and psoriasin were identified in stratum corneum samples. hBD-3-level was markedly higher in AD non-lesional skin compared to healthy controls, and a similar trend was observed for RNase7. Most AMPs were distributed evenly through 35 tape strips, implying a homogeneous distribution of antimicrobial defense in the outer most skin layers. The findings indicate that AD patients may not suffer from a general baseline deficiency in AMPs, and that the innate immune defense is present throughout the stratum corneum, both insights of importance for understanding the role of AMPs in AD.

KW - Adult

KW - Aged

KW - Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/analysis

KW - Dermatitis, Atopic/pathology

KW - Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Skin/pathology

KW - Specimen Handling/methods

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-018-20204-8

DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-20204-8

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29374283

VL - 8

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

M1 - 1666

ER -