Autoradiographic and planimetric analyses of the inflammatory infiltrate in psoriatic lesions under PUVA-therapy

Summary The effects of oral 8-methoxypsoralen-photochemotherapy (PUVA-therapy) on the inflammatory infiltrate in 14 psoriatic skinlesions and on normal skin of 7 controls were investigated by means of autoradiography and planimetry. Under PUVA-therapy, one finds a significant decrease in dermal cells per millimeter lesion in psoriasis. Percentage of ³H-TdR-labeled dermal cells in the lesions and total number of dermal cells in the control group do not change significantly. The relative decrease of dermal cells per millimeter lesion in psoriasis is far less significant than the reduction of ³H-TdR-labeled epidermal cells under PUVA-therapy.Lecture held at VII^th Annual Meeting of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dermatologische Forschung (ADF), Innsbruck, Austria, November 16–18, 1979