Effects of medium-term PUVA therapy on peripheral T-lymphocyte subsets in psoriatic patients

Acta Derm Venereol Suppl (Stockh). 1989:146:125-9.

Abstract

Three to four months' PUVA treatment is a widely-adopted procedure to induce psoriasis remission and for the purpose of this study is called "medium-term". The 32 psoriatic patients considered revealed a statistically significant baseline decrease in OKT3+ (p less than 0.001), OKT4+ (p less than 0.001) and OKT8+ (p less than 0.001) as compared with 40 healthy controls, while OKT4/OKT8 was normal. Variance analysis within the psoriatic group failed to reveal further significant variation in the immunological parameters during the 3 months under study. Nevertheless, there was a marked trend towards a reduction in OKT4+ cells and OKT4/OKT8 as compared with baseline values after 3 months. These results suggest that "medium-term" PUVA therapy does not statistically restore the pre-existing baseline changes in T-lymphocyte subsets of the psoriatic patients. The non-statistically significant effects as regards OKT4+ may be due to the small number of patients who reached 3 months' treatment (9 patients) but could be regarded as the first step towards the significant changes described here in long-term PUVA-treated psoriatic patients.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / analysis
  • CD4 Antigens / analysis
  • CD8 Antigens
  • Female
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • PUVA Therapy / methods*
  • Psoriasis / drug therapy
  • Psoriasis / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes / radiation effects*
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte
  • CD4 Antigens
  • CD8 Antigens