ELEVATED LEVELS OF SOLUBLE CD8 ANTIGEN IN SERA OF PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS - A POSSIBLE SIGN OF SUPPRESSOR CYTOTOXIC T-CELL ACTIVATION

Increased levels of the soluble CD8 antigen probably represent a sign of suppressor T-cell activity. The concentration of CD8 was measured in the sera of patients with psoriasis without psoriatic arthritis (n=25) and atopic dermatitis (n=26), exhibiting moderate to severe disease activity, in comparison with nonatopic healthy controls (n=31) using an ELISA technique. CD8 levels were found to be significantly elevated in psoriatic patients as compared with healthy controls (p≤0.002). Increase in CD8 may be due to suppressor T-cell activation in the skin of patients with psoriasis. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.