COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF β-DEFENSIN LEVELS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ECZEMA OF VARYING SEVERITY

Abstract

The infectious nature of the process in microbial eczema or complications of bacterial infection of true eczema indicates an impairment in the immune system, especially innate immunity. Primary pathogen receptors, the complement system, phagocytosis, interferons, and endogenous antibiotic peptides play a crucial role in the body's innate defense. The first line of defense is provided by antimicrobial peptides, which are non−specific factors of humoral immunity, and have endotoxin−neutralizing and immune modulatory activity, as well as act against a wide range of microorganisms. One of them is defensins, which are cationic amphipathic peptides with a length of 30 to 42 amino acids with a three−stranded β−plate structure containing three disulfide bonds. The main producers of human β−defensins (Human Beta Defensin) are various epithelial cells, including keratinocytes. Defensins have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic effects. β−defensins are active against gram−positive and gram−negative bacteria, in addition, they exhibit anti−yeast activity. In patients, the severity of dermatosis was determined based on the calculation of EASI (Eczema Area Severity Index), the content of Human Beta Defensin was done with enzyme−linked immunosorbent assay, in the serum of patients with chronic eczema, it was increased 15.9 times compared to the control group. Quantitative levels of Human Beta Defensin 2 have been shown to be closely related to the disease severity. The content of Human Beta Defensin 2 in the serum of patients with chronic eczema may be a marker of the dermatosis severity. Key words: chronic eczema, true and microbial eczema, pathogenesis, β−defensin, severity.