Distinct serum cytokines in AIDS-related skin diseases

To determine whether common skin diseases associated with human immunodefic iency virus (HIV) were distinguishable based on the pattern of serum cytoki ne expression, we studied patients with psoriasis, pruritus, and Kaposi's s arcoma (KS) for levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interferon-gam ma (IFN-gamma), interleukin (IL)-10, and IL-4, Thirty-two HIV-positive (HIV +) patients including 8 with KS, 11 with psoriasis, and 13 with pruritus al ong with 16 HIV-negative subjects with psoriasis were studied. IFN-gamma le vels were highest in sera of HIV+ patients with psoriasis (p = 0.040). By c ontrast, TNF-alpha and IL-10 levels were highest in sera of HIV+ patients w ith pruritus (p = 0.012), Detectable levels of all cytokines in these patie nts were remarkably higher than for healthy adults. These results suggest t hat common skin diseases associated with HIV infection and AIDS can be dist inguished by the production of unique cytokines.