Relationship between HB-EGF in epidermis and pathogenesis of psoriasis

Objective: To discuss the pathogenesis of HB-EGF in active psoriasis. Methods: We detected HB-EGF mRNA in normal skin tissues, uninvolved and active psoriatic lesions by hybridization in situ. Results: In normal skin tissues, HB-EGFmRNA was located in the basal layer of epidermis (100%) and there was no expression in the suprabasal layers, while there was focal overexpression of the suprabasal layers in uninvolved tissues and in the surrounding lesions of psoriatic epidermis (95.24%, 85.71%). No HB-EGF mRNA was found in the central part of psoriatic lesions (0). Conclusion: HB-EGF may play an important role in the early pathogenesis of psoriasis. Correcting the abnormal expression of HB-EGF may provide new approaches and medicines for psoriatic therapy.