Abstract
Atopic dermatitis, an allergic disease of type 1, is a chronic disease that affects the skin. Recently, although a large number of studies have been made on effect of ultraviolet B (UVB) on immune system, little is known about the effect and mechanism of UVB irradiation on atopic dermatitis. In this study, we investigated whether UVB irradiation influences atopic dermatitis in an NC/Nga mouse model. Atopy score, ear thickness, and total IgE were measured at each time interval in all groups. On day 38, Cytokine production in the spleen lymphocytes (IL-4, IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-12) were measured with ELISA and subpopulations of spleen lymphocytes were performed by flow cytometer. The levels of TNF-α produced by peritoneal macrophage were measured by ELISA and NO production was analyzed by NOx analyzer system. UVB irradiation (0.1J/cm2) increased atopy score, ear thickness, and total IgE in comparison with the disease-control group. Levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were increased versus the disease-control group, resulting in a further decrease of the IFN-γ/IL-4 ratio compared with the disease-control group. In addition, the levels of TNF-α and NO production of peritoneal macrophage also were elevated. These results indicate that UVB irradiation may exacerbate atopic dermatitis. This may be because the UVB irradiation induces the changes of various cytokine in this atopic mouse model.
