Expression Of VEGF In The Epidermis Of Some Proliferative Lesions

Objective: As a specific mitogen of endothelial cell, VEGF is expressed in several deseases. Therefore we chose some proliferative or neoplastic cutaneous lesions including prurigo simplex, prurigo nodularis, prurigo nodularis, psoriasis vugaris, seborrheic dermatitis, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma to examined the expression of VEGF in epidermis of those lesions.Methods: Seventy-four paraffin-enbeded lesions collected for diagnostic histopathology from the files of Dalian Medical University, Liaoning, China. Specimens included 11 prurigo simplex, 12 prurigo nodularis, 15 prurigo nodularis, 15 psoriasis vugaris, 12 seborrheic dermatitis, 12 basal cell carcinoma and 9 squamous cell carcinoma. 12 normal skin from plastic surgery were used as control. 74 specimens were examined for VEGF and CD34 by the immunihistochemical ABC method. The relationship between VEGF and angiogenesis in the lesions was judged by staining.Results: In normal skin, there was little staining in epidermis with VEGF and only a few capillaries CD34 positive in dermis. The VEGF expression of all of 11 prurigo simplex, similar to normal controls, was considerably weak, and part of endothelium in dermis was stained positive by CD34. VEGF was found to be present in the upper layer of epidermis of 12 prurigo nodularis, mainly in stratum granulosum and in some kerdtinocytes of the supraspinous layer. It appeared cytoplasmic and granular. Dermal vascular endothelium stained positive by CD34, and the capillaries with vasodilatation were obviously much more than the controls. VEGF was strongly expressed by the epidermis in all 15 patients we studied who had lichen planus. As in purigo nodularis, VEGF expression was most prominent in the upper layer of epidermis, and appeared cytoplamic and granular. Being characteristic, the strongest intensity decreased gently from upper layer to lower. High number of endothelium CD34 positive was found, which showed distinct angiogenesis. Positive expression of VEGF was noted in ISpsoriasis vugaris patients. Most of them were found granular in the cytoplasm of the upper layer of epidermis with little or no staining in stratum basal, while the rest stained particularly intense in basal layer. There were abundant blood vessels with dilatation and congestion in the dermal papillaries with positive CD34 staining. In seborrheic dermatitis studied, a cytoplasmic granular VEGF staining was presented distinctly positive in the proliferative epidermis, decreasing gradually toward lower layer. Dilatating and congesting vessels CD34 positive was localized in dermis. In contrast to the benign proliferative diseases, the expression of VEGF in all cases of 10 basal cell carcinoma analyzed was considerably weak, appearing little or no staining in cytoplasm of tumor cells. And CD34 staining showed only a few blood vessels around tumor. Similarly, VEGF was expressed weakly in all 9 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, showing faint staining in the cytoplasm of proliferative epidermis and tumor folk. CD34 immunoreactivity was similar to BCC again.Conclusion: We found that VEGF was expressed in both benign proliferative skin diseases and malignant neoplasmic ones. VEGF express was associated with the number of blood vessels in dermis, indicating that VEGF expressed by proliferative keratinocytes or tumor cells may be related to angiogenesis and vasodilatation in dermis. VEGF being a specific mitogen to endothelial cell and vascular permeability factor, the role of VEGF in the development and progression should be further studied.