T-Cell Receptor-Variable β Region and Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in Psoriasis, Chronic Eczema and Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma: A Comparative Study.

¹Hala A. F. Ismail, ²Mohammad A. Sweilam, ³Samia Nassar, ³Amany Abdel-Latif, and ³Zinab Abdel-Samad.

Departments of ¹Microbiology, ²Clinical Pathology and ³Dermatology, Faculty of Medecine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.

The present study was designed to assess expression of T-cell receptor (TCR)-variable b regions number 2, 3, 6, 8, 12, 17, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in psoriasis, eczema and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL): TCR-Vβ expression was examined using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) in skin lesions and peripheral blood leucocytes, while MIF level was determined by ELISA and RT–PCR in serum and skin lesions respectively. The study was carried out on 15 psoriatic, 9 eczematous, 10 CTCL patients and 8 normal healthy controls. expression of Vβ2 and Vβ6 was detected in 8 psoriatic patients, while expression of Vβ2 and Vβ17 was detected in 4 and 2 eczematous patients respectively and Vβ8 and Vβ12 in 4 and 2 CTCL patients respectively. MIF mRNA was increased in CTCL lesional skin but not in psoriasis compared to control. Meanwhile, significant increased MIF level was noticed in sera of all patients. In conclusion, detection of TCR-Vβ in the blood and skin lesions may reflect the important role of activation of T-cells in the pathogenesis of these diseases. the marked increase of MIF in these diseases suggested its involvement in the pathogenesis. Further understanding of function and regulation of both TCR and MIF could be of great importance for developing new strategies of immune-therapy.