Abstract

Cytokines are key factors in the cross talk between the immune system and other systems including hepatic, nervous, cardiac and cutaneous systems, leading to an adaptive and integrated response of the organism to stress. They are also involved in the regulation of many processes, including hematopoiesis, the immune response and inflammation. IL10 is one of the most important anti-inflammatory cytokines. Five cytokines structurally related to IL10 have been described and presently form this family of cytokines: IL19, IL20, IL22, IL24 and IL26. In contrast to IL10, these cytokines display pro-inflammatory activities in different tissues, including skin. Indeed, some of them induce an inflammatory keratinocyte gene expression profile and an epidermis histology resembling psoriatic lesions.
In this review, we discuss recent knowledge about the effects of cytokines of the IL10 family on keratinocytes and their potential role in psoriasis, a cutaneous inflammatory disease.