Gene discovered that confirms existence of psoriatic arthritis

Genetic variants associated with psoriatic arthritis but not with psoriasis have been identified in a major breakthrough published in Nature Communications.
Psoriatic arthritis is a common inflammatory form of arthritis that causes pain and stiffness in joints and tendons that can lead to joint damage. Nearly everyone with psoriatic arthritis has skin psoriasis but only one third of people with psoriasis develop psoriatic arthritis.
The genetic changes discovered increase the risk of psoriatic arthritis but not psoriasis, so could lead to the identification of people with psoriasis who are at risk of developing psoriatic arthritis.
“By identifying genes that predispose people to psoriatic arthritis but not psoriasis, we hope in the future to be able to test patients with psoriasis to find those at high risk of developing psoriatic arthritis,” explains Prof Anne Barton, senior author. “Excitingly, it raises the possibility of introducing treatments to prevent the development of psoriatic arthritis in those individuals in the future”.

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Image credit: H Powers