SERUM LEVELS OF INTERLEUKIN-10 IN PATIENTS WITH PEMPHIGOID

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) and mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) are acquired blistering dermatoses of unknown etiology related to an immune mediated inflammatory process. The pathogenic role of interleukin-10 (IL-10) as an important anti-inflammatory cytokine remains controversial in both types of pemphigoid. The objective was to determine the serum level of IL-10 in a series of patients with pemphigoid. ELISA was used for quantitative measurement of the level of IL-10 in the serum. Twenty-three patients with BP, 4 patients with MMP, and 24 healthy individuals (control group) were included in this study. Normal values of serum IL-10 were found in the majority of pemphigoid patients (92.6%, 25 out of 27 patients), with no significant difference between the study group and the healthy controls (91.7%, 22 out of 24 individuals). One out of 4 patients with MMP (25%) and 1 out of 23 patients with BP (only 4.4%) had values of IL-10 higher than 1 pg/ml. In this pilot study normal serum levels of IL-10 in BP patients were detected. The increased IL-10 in 1 out of 4 patients with MMP suggests that this cytokine might play role in the pathogenesis of this variant of pemphigoid. Further studies in larger cohorts of patients with pemphigoid with and without mucosal disease are warranted in order to clarify the significance of these results.