Keloids appear as pathological wound healing responses following dermal injuries. They are associated with significant morbidity, but their treatments remain challenging. 

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine. It has a prominent role in fetal scarless regenerative healing and can therefore serve as a targeted and effective therapy for keloids. 

A review thus investigated the background of keloid and IL-10 functions before considering it a promising forthcoming treatment.

The investigators searched Pubmed, ScienceDirect, PLOS, and Clinical Key for keywords like interleukin 10, keloid, and wound healing.

The observations were as below-

• Keloids and fetal scarless healing hold opposing sides in a tissue repair spectrum.
• Successful regenerative healing promotion through IL-10 overexpression have already been demonstrated by many animal models.
• IL-10 overexpression can reduce inflammatory wound microenvironment, downregulate transforming growth factor β/SMAD signaling pathway, enhance extracellular matrix breakdown, and organise extracellular matrix and thus promote regenerative healing.
• These results have facilitated clinical trials examining human recombinant IL-10.

It was thus concluded that Interleukin 10, due to its pleiotropic effects, can become a more targeted and promising therapy of keloids.

Source: Harsono AD, Prasetyono TOH, Dilogo IH. The Role of Interleukin 10 in Keloid Therapy: A Literature Review. Ann Plast Surg. 2021 Oct 29. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000003044. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34724442.