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

Figure 2

Th17 cells with the pathogenic phenotype are infiltrating the lesional skin of psoriasis patients. Pathogenic Th17 cell identification in healthy (HS), nonlesional (NLS), and lesional (LS) skin biopsies was performed using antibodies anti-CD4 (green) and (a) anti-IL-17 (red) or (d) anti-CD161 (red) along with an anti-IFN-γ (cyan). Nuclei counterstaining was performed with Hoechst (blue). Confocal representative images were obtained (a, d). (b) Percentage of pathogenic Th17 lymphocytes (CD4⁺ IL-17⁺ IFN-γ⁺) in HS (), NLS (), and LS (), Mann-Whitney test. (c) Spearman’s correlation between the percentage of pathogenic Th17 cells (CD4⁺ IL-17⁺ IFN-γ⁺) and the PASI score (). (e) Quantification of pathogenic Th17 lymphocytes (CD4⁺ CD161⁺ IFN-γ⁺) in HS (), NLS (), and LS (), Mann-Whitney test. (f) Spearman’s correlation between the pathogenic Th17 cell (CD4⁺ CD161⁺ IFN-γ⁺) percentage and the PASI score (). . Scale  μm.

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