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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Jun 29.
Published in final edited form as: J Dermatol Sci. 2007 Aug 8;48(2):87–101. doi: 10.1016/j.jdermsci.2007.06.006

Figure 2. TNFα expression in PN and PP skin.

Figure 2

Cryopreserved sections of PN skin (panel a) and PP skin (panels b–e) were immunostained to detect TNFα. Note the markedly increased number of TNFα + cells in PP skin (b) compared to PN skin (a). The majority of TNFα + cells in PP skin are located in the papillary dermis (b–e). Note that progressively increased magnification is provided in panels b–d using a black circle for orientation. Many of the TNFα + cells had a dendritic morphology (e), whereas others had a plump macrophage-like appearance (d). No epidermal keratinocyte immunoreactivity for TNFα was observed.

Quantitation of TNFα immunoreactive cells involving six different subjects (n=6) for PN skin (17±2 cells/HPF) and PP skin (57±7 cells/HPF) revealed significant differences between PN and PP skin (p<0.05) as depicted in (f).

These results indicate PP skin is characterized by an increased density of TNFα + mononuclear cells that infiltrate the papillary dermis and focally extend into the epidermal compartment.