A single nucleotide polymorphism of MHC region is associated with subphenotypes of Psoriasis in Chinese population

Systemic evaluation of the relationship between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and osteoporosis: observational and Mendelian randomisation study

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS

With 432 513 samples from UK Biobank dataset, multivariable linear/logistic regression were used to estimate the relationship between psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and estimated bone mineral density (eBMD)/osteoporosis, controlling for potential confounders. Here, confounders were set in three ways: model0 (including age, height, weight, smoking and drinking), model1 (model0 +regular physical activity) and model2 (model1 +medication treatments). The eBMD was derived from heel ultrasound measurement. And 4904 patients with psoriasis and 847 patients with PsA were included in final analysis. Mendelian randomisation (MR) approach was used to evaluate the causal effect between them.

RESULTS

Lower eBMD were observed in patients with PsA than in controls in both model0 (β-coefficient=-0.014, p=0.0006) and model1 (β-coefficient=-0.013, p=0.002); however, the association disappeared when conditioning on treatment with methotrexate or ciclosporin (model2) (β-coefficient=-0.005, p=0.28), mediation analysis showed that 63% of the intermediary effect on eBMD was mediated by medication treatment (p<2E-16). Patients with psoriasis without arthritis showed no difference of eBMD compared with controls. Similarly, the significance of higher risk of osteopenia in patients with PsA (OR=1.27, p=0.002 in model0) could be eliminated by conditioning on medication treatment (p=0.244 in model2). Psoriasis without arthritis was not related to osteopenia and osteoporosis. The weighted Genetic Risk Score analysis found that genetically determined psoriasis/PsA were not associated with eBMD (p=0.24 and p=0.88). Finally, MR analysis showed that psoriasis/PsA had no causal effect on eBMD, osteoporosis and fracture.

CONCLUSIONS

The effect of PsA on osteoporosis was secondary (eg, medication) but not causal. Under this hypothesis, psoriasis without arthritis was not a risk factor for osteoporosis.

Association with Genetic Variants in the IL-23 and NF-κB Pathways Discriminates between Mild and Severe Psoriasis Skin Disease

Psoriasis is clinically heterogeneous, and symptoms can vary from mild almost cosmetic symptoms to severe disease requiring systemic therapy. Biomarkers predicting disease development are lacking. Herein we explored the genetic background in two polarized cohorts of carefully phenotyped patients with long-term follow-up: consistent mild phenotype (n=696) and severe disease course requiring systemic therapy (n=715). All patients were treated at the same dermatology department ensuring homogenous assessment. Genotyping included known psoriasis-associated variants, with special focus on the IL-23 and NF-κB pathways. A case-case study comparing severe and mild psoriasis phenotypes, controlling for age at disease onset and gender, revealed significant differences between the two groups for SNPs in IL23R, NFKB1, IL21, IL12B, NFKBIL1 and IL23A. HLA-C*06 associated equally in the mild and severe disease cohorts. Strong additive effects when combining HLA-C*06 with IL23A, IL23R, IL12B, NFKB1 or TNIP1 were restricted to the severe cohort, indicating that activation of these pathways may influence disease severity in psoriasis. No protective gene was identified in the mild cohort, suggesting that current screens have primarily identified psoriasis variants associated with a more severe phenotype. These results demonstrate the importance of careful phenotyping and long-term clinical follow-up in genetic studies.

Genetics of psoriasis and pharmacogenetics of biological drugs

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin. The causes of psoriasis are unknown, although family and twin studies have shown genetic factors to play a key role in its development. The many genes associated with psoriasis and the immune response include TNFα, IL23, and IL12. Advances in knowledge of the pathogenesis of psoriasis have enabled the development of new drugs that target cytokines (e.g., etanercept, adalimumab, and infliximab, which target TNFα, and ustekinumab, which targets the p40 subunit of IL23 and IL12). These drugs have improved the safety and efficacy of treatment in comparison with previous therapies. However, not all patients respond equally to treatment, possibly owing to interindividual genetic variability. In this review, we describe the genes associated with psoriasis and the immune response, the biological drugs used to treat chronic severe plaque psoriasis, new drugs in phase II and III trials, and current knowledge on the implications of pharmacogenomics in predicting response to these treatments.