INTERLEUKIN-11 PRODUCTION IS INCREASED IN ORGAN-CULTURES OF LESIONAL SKIN OF PATIENTS WITH ACTIVE PLAQUE-TYPE PSORIASIS AS COMPARED WITH NONLESIONAL AND NORMAL SKIN - SIMILARITY TO INTERLEUKIN-1-BETA, INTERLEUKIN-6 AND INTERLEUKIN-8

Increased levels of several cytokines, mainly proinflammatory mediator s, have been reported in psoriatic lesions, Little information, if any , is available concerning other cytokines, especially those initially studied as marrow differentiation agents, Using the experimental appro ach of measuring cytokines released by skin organ cultures, IL-11 and three other proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1 beta, IL-6 and IL-8) were determined using commercially available ELISA kits in supernatants of ten biopsies from lesional and nonlesional psoriatic skin areas and in supernatants of biopsies from ten normal volunteers, The results obta ined showed that the amounts of IL-11 and the other three modulators w ere significantly increased in the material from the lesional areas (P < 0.01), The amounts of IL-11, which is known to have functional acti vity similar to the proinflammatory cytokines and to share a receptor component with IL-6, were also correlated with the disease severity in dex (R = 0.69, P = 0.04), In addition, a nearly significant correlatio n was noted between the amounts of IL-11 released by the lesional and the nonlesional skin biopsies (R = 0.66, P = 0.05), More detailed stud ies are needed to clarify whether IL-11 plays a specific functional ro le in psoriasis, but this study emphasizes the complexity of the patho genesis of psoriasis and the cytokine network, including activation of proinflammatory and haemopoietic biological response modifiers, in th is disease.