Psoriatic Lesions in Patients With Chronic Liver Disease Are Distinct From Psoriasis Vulgaris Lesions, As Judged on Basis of Integrin Adhesion Receptors

Abstract

Psoriatic lesions are relatively frequent in patients with chronic liver disease. Furthermore, therapy with interferons tends to exacerbate the symptoms. The pathogenesis of psoriatic lesions is unclear. An important question is whether such lesions may be linked to the underlying chronic liver disease in these patients, or whether they are incidental manifestations of psoriasis vulgaris. We collected biopsy specimens from involved and uninvolved skin areas of chronic liver disease patients with psoriatic manifestations, as well as from psoriasis vulgaris patients, and investigated the patterns of integrin adhesion receptors by means of immunohistochemical methods. Integrin expression is known to be characteristically altered in psoriasis vulgaris. We found some of these changes in chronic liver disease psoriatic lesions — namely pericellular redistribution and suprabasal expression of the basement membrane receptor α6β4 and of the intercellular integrins α2β1 and α3β1. However, psoriasis vulgaris causes two other typical changes: One is the induction of the prototype fibronectin receptor α5β1, and the other is the alteration of integrin expression in areas of the epidermis that are macroscopically normal. These two changes were not found in chronic liver disease psoriasis biopsy specimens in 14 patients investigated. Thus integrin expression may be useful in differentiating chronic liver disease psoriatic lesions from psoriasis vulgaris lesions. Even though the two types of lesions are indistinguishable on inspection or by their histological features, they may be caused by distinct pathogenetic mechanisms. It remains to be seen whether the underlying chronic liver disease has a role, albeit indirect, in such mechanisms. (Hepatology 1994;20:56–65.)

Expression of Matrix Metalloprotease-2-Cleaved Laminin-5 in Breast Remodeling Stimulated by Sex Steroids

“…27 Whole-mount staining of mammary glands was performed as described. 12 Briefly, glands were flattened on a tissue capsule, fixed in Telly's fixative, defatted in three changes of acetone, hydrated in 95% ethanol, and stained with hematoxylin (0.65 g of FeCl 3 , 67.5 ml of H 2 O; 8.7 ml of 10% hematoxylin in 95% ethanol, pH 1.25).…”

Differential Expression of Activation Epitopes of β1 Integrins in Psoriasis and Normal Skin

“…We have found that keratinocytes express activation epitopes of β1 integrins, and that these epitopes can be I n the epidermis, β1 integrin expression is normally confined to the basal layer; however, there are several situations in which suprabasal, differentiating keratinocytes express β1 integrins. This has been described during wound healing (Hertle et al, 1992;, and in several cutaneous diseases, including psoriasis (Horrocks et al, 1991;Ralfkiaer et al, 1991;Hertle et al, 1992;Pellegrini et al, 1992;Giannelli et al, 1994), eczema, and lichen planus (Ralfkiaer et al, 1991).…”

Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) Cells Require Both α3β1 Integrin and Matrix Metalloproteinases Activity for Migration and Invasion

“…Epithelial cells recognize Ln-5 by the ␣3␤1 and ␣6␤4 integrins, which are involved in hemidesmosome formation and in static adhesion (Baker et al, 1996). However, these integrins also support epithelial cell motility in the course of several pathologic conditions (Giannelli et al, 1994;Ruoslahti and Giancotti, 1989).…”