Presence of selected metabolic syndrome components in patients with psoriasis vulgaris.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have suggested a strong association between psoriasis and obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, resistance to insulin and metabolic syndrome. AIM: To assess the prevalence of selected metabolic syndrome components in patients with psoriasis and the effect of the abnormalities on the disease activity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two hundred and forty-six patients diagnosed with psoriasis and 75 healthy individuals as controls were included in the study. Psoriasis activity was evaluated by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in triglyceride concentration between psoriasis patients and controls (p = 0.00001), which was not found for high-density lipoprotein (HDL) concentration. Mean values of serum glucose level in patients with psoriasis were significantly higher than in controls (p = 0.046). Further statistical analysis of the obtained results showed significantly higher systolic blood pressure in the psoriasis patients than in the controls (p = 0.0001), but there was no statistically significant difference in diastolic blood pressure between the investigated groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome components was observed in patients with psoriasis than in the general population.

Sturge-Weber syndrome type II treated with PDL 595 nm laser.

Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) is rare congenital disorder presenting facial port-wine stains (PWS) eye abnormalities and cerebrovascular malformations. The frequency of SWS is estimated at 1 in 50 000. Cerebrovascular abnormalities can be responsible for seizures, hemiparesis, mental retardation and ophthalmologic abnormalities cause intraocular pressure, glaucoma. Etiopathogenesis of SWS remains elusive. We present a case of a 7-year-old girl with SWS type II. A port-wine stain involves the upper right part of half face and has been associated with glaucoma of both eyes. In the Department of Dermatology in 2009-2012 we performed 23 procedures within 2 months. We have been using PDL laser at wavelength 595 nm and very good cosmetic results were achieved. Given positive treatment effects, the laser therapy of port-wine stains is a method of selection. Port-wine stains in the course of SWS requires a large number of laser treatment.

The association between 38 previously reported polymorphisms and psoriasis in a Polish population: High predicative accuracy of a genetic risk score combining 16 loci.

OBJECTIVES: To confirm the association of previously discovered psoriasis (Ps) risk loci with the disease in a Polish population and to create predictive models based on the combination of these single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-eight SNPs were genotyped in 480 Ps patients and 490 controls. Alleles distributions were compared between patients and controls, as well as between different Ps sub-phenotypes. The genetic risk score (GRS) was calculated to assess the cumulative risk conferred by multiple loci. RESULTS: We confirmed associations of several loci with Ps: HLA-C, REL, IL12B, TRIM39/RPP21, POU5F1, MICA. The analysis of ROC curves showed that GRS combining 16 SNPs at least nominally (uncorrected P<0.05) associated with Ps (GRS-N) had significantly better discriminative power than GRS combining SNPs associated with Ps after the Bonferroni correction (AUC 0.776 vs. 0.750, P = 1 x 10-4) or HLA-C (AUC 0.776 vs. 0.694, P<1 x 10-5). On the other hand, adding additional SNPs to the model did not improve its discriminatory ability (AUC 0.782 for GRS combining all SNPs, P>0.05). In order to assess the total risk conferred by GRS-N, we calculated ORs according to GRS-N quartile - the Ps OR for top vs. bottom GRS-N quartiles was 12.29 (P<1 x 10-6). The analysis of different Ps sub-phenotypes showed an association of GRS-N with age of onset and family history of Ps. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed the association of Ps with several previously identified genetic risk factors in a Polish population. We found that a GRS combining 16 SNPs at least nominally associated with Ps had a significantly better discriminatory ability than HLA-C or GRS combining SNPs associated with Ps after the Bonferroni correction. In contrast, adding additional SNPs to GRS did not increase significantly the discriminative power.