Expression of interleukin-13 and its receptors in mycosis fungoides / 中华皮肤科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To measure the expression of interleukin-13 (IL-13) and its receptors in mycosis fungoides (MF) lesions,and to investigate their clinical significance.Methods A total of 34 paraffin-embedded specimens of MF,which was confirmed by clinical and histopathological features,immunophenotyping and/or T-cell receptor gene rearrangements,were collected from Hangzhou Third People's Hospital between January 2010 and March 2016.According to the tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system,5 patients were at stage I A,9 at stage Ⅰ B,17 at stage Ⅱ A,and 3 at stage Ⅱ B.Ten normal skin tissue specimens served as controls.Immunohistochemical study was conducted to measure the expression of IL-13,IL-13Rα1 and IL-13Rα2.Results IL-13,IL-13Rα1 and IL-13Rα2 were all expressed in atypical lymphoid cells and epidermotropic lymphoid cells in MF lesions at various stages.IL-13Rα2 was highly expressed in all the MF lesions.None of IL-13 and its receptors were expressed in normal skin tissues and lymphocytes.The expression rates of IL-13 and its receptors in MF lesions increased along with the progression of MF.Additionally,the expression rates of IL-13 (10.00％ ± 3.14％),IL-13Rα1 (21.43％ ± 6.88％) and IL-13Ro2 (31.14％ ± 6.38％) significantly decreased in MF lesions at stage Ⅰ compared with those at stage Ⅱ (27.50％ ± 11.00％,39.45％ ± 9.43％,44.40％ ± 11.15％,respectively,all P ＜ 0.05),but no significant differences were observed between stage Ⅰ A and Ⅰ B,or between stage Ⅱ A and Ⅱ B (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion IL-13 and its receptors,especially IL-13Rα2,may be expected to serve as biomarkers for early diagnosis of MF and prediction of its biological behaviors.