Measurement of Interleukins in Cutaneous Disorders: Competitive RT-PCR for Determination of IL-10 mRNA Expression in Psoriasis

Cytokines are considered to be of major importance for the pathogenesis of several cutaneous disorders. Their considerable impact may result from autocrine, paracrine, or endocrine effects. Consequently, numerous investigations aim to measure cytokines, including interleukins. Since reliable determination of cutaneous interleukin expression at the protein level is problematic (see Notes 1 –7 ), determination of mRNA expression came to the forefront of scientific interest. Such approaches, however, are associated with difficulties in the quantification of gene transcripts.