Figure 6. Steroid and UVB therapies down-regulate PGE₂ and IL-22 signaling pathway genes in human atopic lesional skin.

A, Expression profiles of genes related to PGE₂ and IL-22 pathways in human lesional AD skin (n=10) at baseline (AD Base) or after treatment with betamethasone for 3 weeks. The z-score transformed values of microarray gene expression data⁴¹ were used. P value was calculated by paired nonparametric tests with post-hoc Dunn’s multiple comparisons test. B, Correlations of PTGES, PTGES2, HPGD, PTGER4 gene expression versus that of IL22 gene in human atopic lesional skins at baseline. P value was calculated by nonparametric Spearman correlation test. C, Expression of genes related to PGE₂ and IL-22 signaling in human atopic lesional (AL, n=8) and non-lesional (ANL, n=7) skin before (PRE) or 12 weeks after (POST) treatment with UVB. The z-score transformed values of microarray gene expression data⁴² were used. P value was calculated by paired 2-way ANOVA test with post-hoc Bonferroni's multiple comparisons. D, Correlations of changes in expression of IL-22-induced genes (S100A8, S100A9) and PGE₂ synthase genes (PTGS1, PTGES and PTGES2) before (PRE) and after (POST) UVB therapy in atopic AL or NL skins. P value was calculated by nonparametric Spearman correlation test.