Identification of Bacterial DNA in the Peripheral Blood of Patients With Active Psoriasis.

Identification of Bacterial DNA in the Peripheral Blood of PatientsWith Active Psoriasis Psoriasis is a systemic autoimmune inflammatorydisease that shares some immunological aspectswithother inflammatorybased diseases, such as Crohn disease.1 Bacterial DNA (bactDNA) fragments have been shown to induce a systemic immunological response inCrohndiseaseandother settings.2,3 Although the results ofmost bloodbacterial cultures arenegative in patientswith psoriasis,wehypothesized that the presence of bactDNA in the bloodmight act as amolecular trigger in disease outbreaks and induce a systemic inflammatory response in these patients.