Department of Dermatology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan

Correspondence: Koji Sayama, Department of Dermatology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Shigenobu-cho, Onsen-gun, Ehime 791-0295, Japan. Email: sayama@m.ehime-u.ac.jp

Received 17 May 2004; Revised 22 June 2004; Accepted 28 July 2004.

Abstract

Retinoic acid derivatives have been used successfully for the treatment of various dermatoses, such as psoriasis; however, topical application of these compounds often elicits skin irritation. We hypothesized that this irritation was as a result of the local production of interleukin-8 (IL-8). To test this hypothesis, we investigated whether all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) induced IL-8 production in normal human keratinocytes. Stimulation with 10^-7 M ATRA enhanced IL-8 mRNA expression and induced IL-8 production. We also studied the intracellular signaling mechanisms of ATRA-induced IL-8 production in keratinocytes. ATRA increased the expression of RelA (p65), RelB, nuclear factor (NF)-B2 (p52), and NF-B1 (p50), and elevated the DNA-binding activity of p65 and phosphorylation of inhibitor B (IB) . Introduction of a dominant-negative mutant of IB completely abolished ATRA-induced IL-8 production, which indicates that this process is NF-B-dependent. We also studied the role of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in this phenomenon. ATRA phosphorylated the p38 MAPK, and SB202180 inhibited ATRA-induced IL-8 production, which indicates that the p38 MAPK is also involved in ATRA-induced IL-8 production. In summary, ATRA induces IL-8 production in both NF-B- and p38 MAPK-dependent manners in normal human keratinocytes.