THE IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL EFFECT OF A HYDROCOLLOID OCCLUSIVE DRESSING (DUODERM-E) IN PSORIASIS-VULGARIS

The topical application of a hydrocolloid occlusive dressing (HCD) has been shown in various studies to have an antipsoriatic effect as mono therapy but especially in combination with a topical corticosteroid. T he aim of the present study was to assess the effect of 3 weeks of HCD monotherapy at the immunohistochemical level. Ten patients were treat ed. Before and after treatment, a biopsy was taken, and immunohistoche mical stainings were carried out with markers for epidermal growth, ke ratinization, inflammation and endothelium. Suprabasal expression of k eratin 16, the number of cycling epidermal cells and the number of pol ymorphonuclear leucocytes and T lymphocytes tended to decrease during treatment. The endothelial markers did not change during HCD treatment . This study confirms the antipsoriatic effect of HCD and demonstrates that its effect upon some markers of inflammation, epidermal prolifer ation and keratinization is modest.