Association of Pathogenic Th17 Cells with the Disease Severity and Its Potential Implication for Biological Treatment Selection in Psoriasis Patients

Figure 1

Th17 cells present in the lesional skin correlate with psoriasis severity. Biopsies were obtained from the healthy skin (HS), nonlesional skin (NLS), and lesional skin (LS) and preserved in paraffin. The presence of Th17 cells was evaluated by immunofluorescence using antibodies (a) anti-CD4 (green), anti-RORγt (red), and (d) anti-CD161 (red). Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst (blue). Confocal microscopy representative images for (a, d) are shown. (b) Quantification of Th17 cells (CD4⁺ RORγt⁺) in HS (), NLS (), and LS (), Mann-Whitney test. (c) Spearman’s correlation between the Th17 cell (CD4⁺ RORγt⁺) percentage and the PASI score (). (e) Quantification of Th17 cells (CD4⁺ CD161⁺) in HS (), NLS (), and LS (), Mann-Whitney test. (f) Spearman’s correlation between the Th17 cell (CD4⁺ CD161⁺) percentage and the PASI score (). , . Scale  μm.

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