Abstract
Monocyte subsets, including classical, intermediate and non-classical
monocytes, are involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory or
autoimmune diseases. The pathogenic role of monocytes in the peripheral
blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with rosacea remains
unclear. This study aimed to assess frequencies of monocyte subsets in
PBMCs from rosacea patients before and after clinical treatment. We
applied flow cytometry to examine frequencies of monocyte subsets in 116
patients with rosacea,while patients with 26 systemic lupus
erythematosus (SLE), 28 acne and 42 normal healthy subjects without skin
problems (HC) were recruited as controls. Expression of CCR2 on
monocytes and plasma levels of CCL2, HMGB-1, IL-1β and TNF-α were
measured in HC and rosacea patients before and after treatment. The
frequency of classical monocytes, but not intermediate or non-classical
monocytes, was higher in rosacea as compared with HC, which decreased
after treatment. Frequencies of monocyte subsets showed no gender
difference, while increased with age in patients but not in HC.
Frequencies of classical monocytes in patients with
erythromatotelangiectatic rosacea (ETR) and ETR-papulopaustula rosacea
(PPR) overlap were significantly higher than HC or patients with only
PPR or phytomatous rosacea (PhR). There was a significant higher
expression of CCR2 in classical monocytes, with higher plasma levels of
CCL2, HMGB-1, IL-1β and TNF-α in patients than in HC, which all
significantly decreased after treatment. Our data indicated a possible
association between abnormal classical monocytes frequencies and
rosacea.