Hydradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory disease associated with epidermal appendages alteration. Cytokines such as IL1β and IL-17 have been associated with HS lesional skin. Subsequently, biologicaldrugs have been postulated as a potential treatment for HS. However, discontinuation of such treatment usually results in rapid disease relapse. Then, a better understanding of the specific local inflammatory mechanisms in HS is still needed. We established a HS culture model suitable to investigate the inflammatory response on a short period of time. IL-1β and IL-17 concentrations were measured in skin explants from HS surgery specimens before and after 4 days culture with and without rifampicin and clindamycin. At day 0, IL-1β concentration was higher in HS lesional skin versus perilesional skin (n=9) and control skin (n=6) (764±454, 138±155 and 56±54 pg/mmol/mg, respectively, p<0.01), and increased after 4 days culture in HS perilesional and control skins. Concomitantly, neither IL-17 nor the inflammasome markers NLRP3 and Caspase1 concentrations significantly varied in cultured explants. Besides, the skin culture model demonstrated a progressive:
1) release and activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in HS perilesional skin, which reached the level observed in the lesional skin, 
2) loss of collagen organisation and elastin fibers fragmentation in HS skin versus control in presence or not of antibiotics. 
Such matrix alteration could participate to HS physiopathology by releasing biological active peptides and inflammatory factor from the extracellular matrix. Thus, our findings bring new insight in the inflammatorymechanism associated with HS.

Skin inflammation is associated with matrix remodelling and MMP expression and activation in hidradenitis suppurativa