PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS HAVE ELEVATED LEVELS OF SERUM EOSINOPHIL CATIONIC PROTEIN AND INCREASED NUMBERS OF EG2 POSITIVE EOSINOPHILS IN THE DUODENAL STROMA

The occurrence of EG2-positive (EG2+) eosinophils and IgE in biopsy sp ecimens of duodenal mucosa and skin from 39 psoriasis patients was stu died, with emphasis on the relation to serum eosinophil cationic prote in (ECP), serum IgE and the presence or absence of serum IgA and IgG a ntigliadin antibodies, Psoriasis patients had significantly elevated s erum levels of ECP even after exclusion of five of 37 sera which were Phadiatop positive, The elevated serum ECP was not associated with the presence of IgA or IgG antibodies to gliadin, After exclusion of Phad iatop positive sera the serum IgE values did not differ from those of a group of healthy blood donors. Patients with psoriasis had a pronoun ced increase of EG2+ cells in their duodenal stroma, Patients without antibodies to gliadin tended to have even more EG2+ cells than those w ith such antibodies and those with increased duodenal intraepithelial lymphocytes. IgE+ cells were present in most duodenal specimens, and i n some specimens there were >100 IgE+ cells/section, The number of EG2 + cells was increased in lesional skin and, in some patients, also in non-involved skin, but there was a more pronounced increase in EG2 rea ctivity in the duodenal than in the skin specimens, IgE reactivity was increased both in non-involved and involved skin and was significantl y related to the number of IgE-positive cells in the duodenal stroma, The results of this study indicate that the gastrointestinal tract and the eosinophil granulocyte might be involved in psoriasis in a hither to unknown way.