Assessing Targeted Proteomics in Inflammatory Skin Diseases with the Tape-stripping Method

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the detectability of a panel of 92 inflammatory biomarkers in tape strips from the skin of patients with inflammatory skin diseases, and whether this depended on the number of tape strips taken. Furthermore, the biomarker levels in the patients were compared with those in healthy controls. Eight consecutive uniform tape strips (each 3.8 cm²) were obtained from 2 adjacent skin sites from 8 atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and psoriasis patients, respectively, and 5 controls. Three separate analyses were carried out using the Olink® Target Inflammation panel: (i) all 8 tape strips (1-8) from 1 skin site and from the other skin site, (ii) the first 4 tape strips (1-4), and (iii) the next 4 tape strips (5-8). Biomarkers were above the detection limit for 65.7% of atopic dermatitis, 70.2% of psoriasis, and 45.1% of contact dermatitis samples. There were no significant differences in biomarker levels between the use of 4 or 8 tape strips, or between the first and last 4 tape strips. In general, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis patients were distinguishable from controls, whereas contact dermatitis patients were not. Based on the overall data quality, analysing protein signatures in tape strips with the targeted inflammatory panel is feasible.