Acta Derm Venereol 2004; 84: 428–432 INVESTIGATIVE REPORT Galanin Expression in a Murine Model of Allergic Contact Dermatitis Husameldin EL-NOUR1, Lena LUNDEBERG1, Anders BOMAN2, Elvar THEODORSSON3, Tomas HO¨ KFELT4 and Klas NORDLIND1 1Unit of Dermatology and Venereology and 2Unit of Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, 3IBK/Neurochemistry, University Hospital, Linko¨ping and 4Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail:
[email protected] Galanin is a neuropeptide widely distributed in the but there is a strong upregulation in response to nervous system. The expression of galanin was investi- peripheral axotomy both in mouse (8, 9) and rat (10). gated in murine contact allergy using immunohisto- Galanin is upregulated in dorsal horn neurons after chemistry, radioimmunoassay and in situ hybridization. peripheral inflammation (11), and has also been shown Female BALB/c mice were sensitized with oxazolone and to be involved in the development of inflammatory 6 days later challenged on the dorsal surface of ears, arthritis in the rat (12, 13). In addition, galanin while control mice received vehicle. After 24 h, one ear concentration is increased in chemically induced ileitis was processed for immunostaining using a biotinylated (14). It has also been reported that carrageenan-induced fluorescence technique, while the other ear was frozen and inflammation in rat skin causes a marked increase in processed for radioimmunoassay or in situ hybridization. galanin mRNA levels in cells in the epidermis, as well Galanin immunoreactive nerve fibres were more numer- as in the dermis; however, no galanin immunoreactive ous (pv0.01) in the eczematous compared with control nerve fibres were seen (15).