Increased epidermal cell proliferation in normal human skin in vivo following local administration of interferon-gamma

Recombinant human interferon-gamma was administered intradermally (10 micrograms in 0.1 ml) to healthy adult human volunteers from day 1 to day 3, and epidermal cell proliferation was measured on whole skin biopsies at day 6. Three independent parameters were assessed, namely, a) epidermal keratin-16 expression, b) keratinocyte proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression, and c) keratinocyte silver nucleolar organizer region counts. Significantly increased scores for each parameter were observed after interferon-gamma injection (P < 0.01 in each case) compared to site-matched controls. Keratin-16 expression was confined to suprabasal epidermis, whereas proliferating cell nuclear antigen and silver nucleolar organizer region counts were particularly elevated in the basal epidermis. Taken together with previous findings, these studies indicate both proinflammatory and growth regulatory roles for interferon-gamma in human skin. These data are likely to be of particular importance to pathophysiological mechanisms of psoriasis and related cutaneous inflammatory diseases.