CD4+ T Cells and S100A7 Epression in Normal and Psoriatic Skin: A Histological and Histochemical Study

January 21, 2026 updated by: Ashrakat Abdelhamid Amin, Sohag University

Psoriasis is one of the commonest and most researched chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disorders that affects approximately 1-3% of the population worldwide and significantly impairs patients' quality of life. The most common form is plaque psoriasis, which makes up about 90% of cases, which primarily manifests as sharply demarcated, erythematous, scaly plaques, which can involve any part of the skin but most commonly the extensor surfaces (such as the elbows and knees) and the scalp. Apart from plaque psoriasis, there are also other clinical forms, such as guttate psoriasis (particularly common in children after strep throat infections), and pustular psoriasis (one of the most severe varieties of psoriasis, in which the spreading of pustules is generalized, with epidermal fulfillment and a severe general condition).

This disease is characterized by alternating severity and remission of disease symptoms, which include the formation of skin lesions of varying severity. The psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) is a widely used instrument in psoriasis trials that assesses and grades the severity of psoriatic lesions and the patient's response to treatment. It produces a numeric score ranging from 0 to 72. In general, a score of 5 to 10 is considered moderate disease, and a score over 10 is considered severe.

A series of basic and clinical studies have shown that psoriasis is mediated by components of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. The crosstalk between keratinocytes and various immune cells, especially helper T cells, plays a central role in the progression of psoriasis. Psoriasis is caused by chronic interaction between keratinocytes and activated immune cells. Numerous studies have established that hyperproliferation and abnormal differentiation of keratinocytes is a secondary phenomenon induced by immune activation. This "immune" hypothesis, is mainly based on dendritic cell (DC) and T cell pathogenic functions.The abnormal expression of S100A7 as a part of innate immunity in psoriasis vulgaris has been confirmed. S100 proteins are being discussed not only as potential biomarkers as well as new therapeutic targets through inhibition of S100 protein expression, targeted degradation, and antibody-mediated binding of S100 proteins. The most common therapeutic approaches include inhibition of S100 protein expression using microRNA-, small interfering RNA- or short hairpin RNA-based knockdown of S100 proteins using neutralizing antibodies or using specific small-molecule inhibitors. On the other side the role of CD4+ T cells (Th 17 cells) as a part of adaptive immunity, seems to be critical in the development of the skin lesions. Whether S100A7 or Th 17 cells are related to the severity of psoriasis is unclear. Immunohistology provides invaluable tools for better understanding psoriasis's pathogenetic mechanism and understanding the molecular processes involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Sohag, Egypt
        • Sohag university Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • the study will include patients with psoriasis

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. pregnancy
  2. lactation

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: cases group
patients with psoriasis
Paraffin sections,5 Um thick will be prepared from the skin samples and will be analyzed for light microscopy
Active Comparator: control group
Healthy
Paraffin sections,5 Um thick will be prepared from the skin samples and will be analyzed for light microscopy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
immunohistochemical skin expression of S100A7 (psoriasin)
Time Frame: 1 year
measuring the percentage area of S100A7 (psoriasin) positive cells in skin by immunohistochemistry
1 year
immunohistochemical skin expression of CD4 T cells
Time Frame: 1 year
measuring number of CD4 T positive cells in skin by immunohistochemistry
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 30, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 17, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 21, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

September 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 21, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • soh-Med-23-09-01MS

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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