Journal of

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Background and Aim: As a blistering agent, mustard gas causes a variety of disorders in different body organs, including the skin, such as altrations in DNA and clinical manifestations like pruritus. TGF-β1 molecule is a cytokine with anti-cell growth and inflammation suppression effects in skin inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine TGF-β1 gene exprtession in victims exposed to mustard gas and the correlation with the severity of their pruritus.
Methods: 17 victims exposed to mustard gas, 17 patients with chronic contact dermatitis and 10 healthy individuals were included in the study. The assessment of TGF-β1 expression in their skin samples was conducted by semi-quantitative RT-PCR followed by immunohistochemistry and classification of patients was done by pruritus severity scoring system (0-3).
Results: There was a significant decrease in TGF-β1 gene expression in mustard gas exposed victims comparing to chronic contact dermatitis group and the control group (P<0.05). In addition, in the absence of TGF-β1 expression, the severity of pruritus in the patient group significantly increased (P<0.05).
Conclusion: TGF-β1 has a significant role in chronic inflammatory skin lesions caused by mustard gas.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using saliva instead of serum (as a simpler method without the need for blood sampling) to determine the level of some cytokines and enzymes. In this study, the levels of cytokines IL10, IFN-Y, TNF-α, TGF-β and the antioxidant enzymes glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase were measured in the saliva and serum of three patients with alopecia totalis by ELISA. Comparison of the levels of these substances in saliva samples at 5 am, saliva at 11 am and serum at 11 am with Friedman test did not show a significant difference. Therefore, saliva samples may be a good alternative to serum in the study of immunological factors.