404 Plaque Psoriasis patients with Psoriatic Arthritis demonstrate a reduced capacity to neutralise neutrophil derived elastase compared to plaque psoriasis patients without arthritis.

Abstract

Elafin, an elastase specific protease inhibitor, is well described to be upregulated in lesional psoriatic skin. Elastase is active in antimicrobial defence but is also involved in proteolysis of tissue components. The role of this protease – protease inhibitor pair is not well understood in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. We analysed the protein expression of neutrophil elastase (NE) and elafin in epidermal samples and serum of psoriasis patients affected by plaque psoriasis (epidermal n=28, serum n = 20) or psoriasis with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (n=34, serum = 94) in addition to healthy controls (n=25) and patients with osteoarthritis (n=58).