Comparison of IL-10 levels in chronic venous insufficiency ulcers and autologous donor tissue

• Published in: Archives of Dermatological Research 1998-12, Vol.290 (12), p.669-673
• Main Authors: LUNDBERG, J. E, ROTH, T. P, DUNN, R. M, DOYLE, J. W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Western; Chronic Disease; Dermatology; Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor - physiology; Humans; Interleukin-10 - analysis; Medical sciences; Precipitin Tests; Ulcer - metabolism; Vascular disorders of the skin; Venous Insufficiency - metabolism; Wound Healing
• ISSN: 0340-3696; 1432-069X
• DOI: 10.1007/s004030050371

In previous immunohistochemical studies, chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) ulcers have been shown to display positive staining for interleukin-10 (IL-10), while other wounds (including autologous donor wound tissue) show a reduced staining level. IL-10 inhibits the synthesis of many proinflammatory cytokines, while also inhibiting antigen presentation by antigen-presenting cells. It is possible that abnormally high amounts of IL-10 in chronic wounds may be related to the failure of these wounds to progress to final wound healing. The purpose of this study was to quantify the levels of IL-10 in CVI ulcers and autologous donor tissue using Western blotting. Extracts were prepared from frozen wound tissue samples and equal amounts of protein were concentrated by immune-precipitation for Western blot analysis. Densitometric analysis was performed on nonsaturated chemilumigraphs and normalized to an IL-10 standard run on each gel. The quantity of IL-10 in CVI ulcers was found to be 490% of the quantity in autologous donor tissue. This study provides confirmatory quantitative data which supports previous immunohistochemical findings showing elevated levels of IL-10 in CVI ulcers.