Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin Is Implicated in the Pathogenesis of Bullous Pemphigoid by Dendritic Cells

Figure 2

The expression of TSLP in the skin of patients with BP was higher compared to the HC skin. The TSLP expression in the skin of patients with BP and HCs was determined by immunohistochemistry. (a) Compared with the HC skin, the BP lesional skin showed a higher expression of TSLP mainly in the epidermis. (b) TSLP-positive cells (white arrowheads) in blisters of the BP lesional skin. (c) Number of TSLP-positive cells is greater in the BP lesional skin () compared to the HC skin (, ). The number of each section is the average of counts calculated by four dermatologists in five randomly visual fields at HPF (0.068 mm², ×400 magnification) of scanned sections. (d) Density of the TSLP expression in the epidermis of patients with BP was significantly higher than that in the HC epidermis (0.6379 vs 0.2019/mm², ). Density of the TSLP expression in the epidermis was scored by the ImageJ analysis system as described in the text. Results from three patients with BP and a HCs are shown in (a). Dashed white lines in (a, b) indicate the basement membrane zone or edge of blister. Asterisks () indicate the area of blisters. Original magnification: ×100 and ×400. values were determined by Student’s test in (c, d). A value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Column scatter graphs show the , and the measured values from individual patients were plotted by dots. TSLP: thymic stromal lymphopoietin; BP: bullous pemphigoid; HCs: healthy controls, HPF: high power field.

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