BACKGROUND S100B protein was reported to be elevated in psoriatic patients' serum, with no previous evaluation of its skin expression, in contrast to the extensively studied S100 protein. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the serum level and skin expression of S100B in psoriasis to assess its possible involvement in its pathogenesis. METHODS Serum level of S100B protein was estimated in 40 psoriatic pa...

BACKGROUND Psoriasis vulgaris is one of the most common chronic inflammatory skin disorders. Patients with psoriasis are at risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). The electromechanical delay (EMD) is the time interval from the onset of the P wave on surface electrocardiography (ECG) to the beginning of the A wave. Prolonged atrial EMD is an independent risk factor for the development of A...

OBJECTIVE To assess vitamin D status in psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and to study whether it was associated with disease activity, inflammatory markers, and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted at Riyadh National Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between March and September 2012. It included 43 patients with plaque psoria...

Background: The pathogenesis of psoriatic plaque lesions is related to the overexpression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). We investigated changes in circulating and skin CGRP content, and their impacts on T lymphocyte infiltration and acitretin therapy in psoriasis vulgaris. Methods: CGRP expression was examined through immunohistochemistry of skin biopsies, and its serum levels were...

BACKGROUND Goeckerman's therapy (GT) of psoriasis is based on daily application of pharmacy grade coal tar on affected skin with subsequent exposure to UV light. Disturbances in angiogenic activity are characteristic for the immunopathogenesis of psoriasis. The aim of study was to evaluate the influence of GT of psoriasis on proinflammatory and angiogenic activities expressed as changes in leve...

Although biological drugs in psoriasis treatment show clinical efficacy, there are still a proportion of patients in whom little treatment response is obtained. The aim of this study was to identify molecular biomarkers for treatment response and to investigate the molecular effects of ustekinumab treatment of psoriasis. The mRNA expression of various genes in skin biopsies was analysed by quan...

Background: Beyond their role in hemostasis and thrombosis, platelets are important for modulating inflammatory reactions. Activated platelets play a role in the pathomechanism of inflammatory diseases such as asthma, but little is known about platelet activation in chronic skin inflammation, including atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis. Furthermore, the relationship between platelet activati...

INTRODUCTION The use of psoralen baths with long-wave UV radiation, known as PUVA bath therapy, is useful in the treatment of psoriasis. The therapy is not associated with systemic adverse effects and the dose of UV-A radiation administered is lower. The objectives of this study aimed to identify the variables that influence the effectiveness of PUVA bath therapy and the duration of remission, ...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which show a significant ability to cleave the components of extracellular matrix, and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), which slow down the activity of those enzymes, may be implicated in the pathogenesis and spread of psoriatic disease. This study aims to analyze plasma levels of MMP-2 and TIMP-2 in plaque psoriasis patients before a...