Interleukin-2 psoriasis evaluation of red vs. mediterranean sea bathing and uvb irradiation

ABSTRACT

Sixty psoriatic patients were studied to determine the effect of climatotherapy on their serum interleukin-2 and psoriatic lesions. They were divided into two groups bathed in Red and Mediterranean Sea water, followed by irradiation with incremental doses of UVB lamp three times weekly for four weeks. The study also included twenty healthy persons for detection of their serum IL-2 as a control group. The results showed a significant decrease of both serum IL-2 and PASI [psoriatic area and severity index] after treatment compared with those before treatment in both groups. The improvement may be due to a decreased number of Langerhans cells which decreased the immune reaction as a result of exposure to UVB. Also, sea water bathing may express osmotic pressure causing IL-2 to pass out of skin giving rise to improvement together with decrease of the mitotic rate of epidermis due to high salt concentration. There was no significant statistical difference in treatment with Red vs. Mediterranean Sea water bathing