14402 Serum levels of thymus and activation-regulated chemokine in patients with psoriasis: Higher in patients with generalized pustular psoriasis

Abstract

Thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC) is designated a TH2 type chemokine. Serum TARC levels sharply reflect the disease activity of atopic dermatitis. The previous studies reported that serum TARC levels in patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) were comparable with those in healthy controls, however, we sometimes encounter psoriasis patients with high serum levels of TARC. The association of clinical severity of psoriasis with serum TARC levels has not been investigated yet. Furthermore, to date, serum TARC levels in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) or generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) have never been reported. Thereby, we investigated the association of serum TARC levels with psoriasis by types of psoriasis, and examined correlations of serum TARC levels with clinical severity scores and other results of blood tests. Psoriasis patients visiting our hospital from April 2013 to April 2018 were included in this study. All data were collected retrospectively from the patient charts. Data on 75 patients (51 men and 24 women; PsV 30 patients, PsA 29 patients, GPP 16 patients) were analyzed. The serum TARC levels in patients with GPP were significantly higher than those in PsV and those in PsA. There was significantly positive correlation between serum TARC levels and PASI scores. In conclusion, our study revealed that serum TARC levels were high in patients with GPP. Furthermore, serum TARC levels can potentially be one of biomarkers reflecting the severity or systemic inflammation caused by psoriasis in patients with psoriasis, not so much as in patients with atopic dermatitis.