Prevalence of psoriasis among the patients in Dhaka and Chittagong and comparison of cytokine profiling and association of gut microbiota

Abstract

Psoriasis is a non-contagious skin inflammatory condition characterized by erythematous, silvery scaling and itchy plaques which are seen commonly on regions of elbow and knee with bleeding spots at scraped off parts. The early explanatory models of psoriasis pointed to genetic and environmental factors as being able to explain the pathogenesis of the disease especially in familial predisposition or environmental exposures. This research aims to find a multi-dimensional insight of psoriasis to focus on the interaction between immune-transducing molecules, the dynamics of intestinal microbiome and environmental contextual factors which will further help in enhancing global awareness of the disease and covering information gaps. According to the current evidence, constant inflammation is caused mostly by immunological dysregulation. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) has become the subject of interest to many researchers as it mediates critical immune signaling by influencing the activation process of keratinocytes and recruits immune effectors to the dermal surface to fuel the development of plaque and incite inflammation. IL-6 is locally and systemically active and promotes differentiation of Th17 lineage and upregulation of pathways mediated by IL-17. The gut microbiome further alters cutaneous health through the skin-gut axis. Preliminary findings from our research suggests an association between changes in the gastrointestinal microbial community (both temporary and chronic) and intestinal hyperpermeability, blunted immune stimulation, and systemic inflammatory diseases, which can either aggravate or trigger psoriasis. To detect the mechanism, serum cytokines levels were quantified by ELISA, whereas to detect the presence of Helicobacter pylori PCR was done for genomic DNA after isolating from human stool samples. These insights can be used to raise the awareness of its complexity and provide future approaches towards diagnosis and therapeutic intervention.