New study suggests people with psoriasis experience widespread bone loss
Scientists from the Genes, Development and Disease Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), have discovered the molecular communication that is established between inflamed skin and loss of bone mass, which means that people with psoriasis experience widespread bone loss as a result of the disease.
The study, which was led by Erwin Wagner, and published in Science Translational Medicine, suggests that this discovery highlights the possibility to treat psoriasis with drugs that are already on the market, or are in advanced clinical trial stages, that would have additional benefits for the bone.
In a previous study, Erwin Wagner’s team generated a mouse model from which they had removed a gene in the cells that form the epidermis, mimicking what happens during inflammatory skin disorders in humans. They discovered that this mouse mutant suffered from bone loss.
During this research they found that the immune cells in the skin of this animal model generated large amounts cytokine IL-17 – a protein of the immune system that activates cellular inflammation in response to damage. IL-17 travels through the bloodstream to the bones and, once there, inhibits formation of the skeleton. However, treating these mice with IL-17 blockers, then led to bone formation.
During further analysis, researchers observed that psoriasis patients had bone loss compared to healthy people, and this correlated with increased levels of cytokine IL-17 in the blood, suggesting that people with psoriasis should be monitored for this loss of bone mass, or the presence of high levels of these factors in the blood.
“Treating psoriasis patients with IL-17 blockers – some already on the market – could have a beneficial effect on the loss of bone tissue, unlike other compounds that might only affect skin inflammation,” says Özge Uluçkan, first author of the study.
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