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New blood biomarker may predict which patients with psoriasis will develop psoriatic arthritis.
Posted On: October 14, 2016
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As psoriatic arthritis progresses, patients develop painful joint deformities that prevent them from being able to perform activities requiring manual dexterity, such as sewing or playing the piano.
Approximately 2-3% of Canadians have a condition known as psoriasis, which causes red patchy skin that can be itchy and sore. Up to a third of these patients will develop psoriatic arthritis, a debilitating condition that causes joint pain, stiffness and swelling.
Psoriatic arthritis is often misdiagnosed because of a lack of disease awareness. Moreover, there are no reliable screening tools for determining which patients with psoriasis will progress to psoriatic arthritis. This is problematic because patients with psoriatic arthritis are more likely to develop serious conditions such as heart disease.
In order to identify a screening method for psoriatic arthritis, Krembil Senior Scientist Dr. Dafna Gladman and her team conducted a comprehensive eight-year-long study in patients with psoriasis who did not have arthritis when they first presented at the clinic. Having previously identified increased expression of the CXCL10 gene among patients with psoriatic arthritis, they decided to measure the levels of CXCL10 protein in blood and joint fluid samples taken during the study. They collected clinical data and blood samples from patients with psoriasis (before and after the development of psoriatic arthritis) and joint fluid from patients with psoriatic arthritis.
The researchers found higher blood levels of CXCL10 in patients with psoriasis who later developed psoriatic arthritis than in those who did not. However, once the psoriatic arthritis developed there was no difference in blood levels of CXCL10 across patient groups. This suggests that blood levels of CXCL10 may predict which patients are more likely to develop psoriatic arthritis, even before any clinical symptoms develop, such as joint swelling or stiffness. The study team also found that patients with psoriatic arthritis had much higher levels of CXCL10 in their joint fluid compared to controls, suggesting that CXCL10 plays a role in joint inflammation.
Explains Dr. Gladman, “It is increasingly important for us to look beyond clinical features to improve how psoriatic arthritis is diagnosed. Our results suggest that CXCL10 might be a useful screening tool in this regard, either alone or in combination with other clinical information, allowing us to prevent more serious complications of the disease.”
This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Krembil Foundation and the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.
C-X-C motif chemokine 10 is a possible biomarker for the development of psoriatic arthritis among patients with psoriasis. Abji F, Pollock RA, Liang K, Chandran V, Gladman DD. Arthritis & Rheumatology. doi: 10.1002/art.39800. 2016 Jul 7. [Pubmed abstract]
Psoriatic arthritis is often misdiagnosed because of a lack of disease awareness. Moreover, there are no reliable screening tools for determining which patients with psoriasis will progress to psoriatic arthritis. This is problematic because patients with psoriatic arthritis are more likely to develop serious conditions such as heart disease.
In order to identify a screening method for psoriatic arthritis, Krembil Senior Scientist Dr. Dafna Gladman and her team conducted a comprehensive eight-year-long study in patients with psoriasis who did not have arthritis when they first presented at the clinic. Having previously identified increased expression of the CXCL10 gene among patients with psoriatic arthritis, they decided to measure the levels of CXCL10 protein in blood and joint fluid samples taken during the study. They collected clinical data and blood samples from patients with psoriasis (before and after the development of psoriatic arthritis) and joint fluid from patients with psoriatic arthritis.
The researchers found higher blood levels of CXCL10 in patients with psoriasis who later developed psoriatic arthritis than in those who did not. However, once the psoriatic arthritis developed there was no difference in blood levels of CXCL10 across patient groups. This suggests that blood levels of CXCL10 may predict which patients are more likely to develop psoriatic arthritis, even before any clinical symptoms develop, such as joint swelling or stiffness. The study team also found that patients with psoriatic arthritis had much higher levels of CXCL10 in their joint fluid compared to controls, suggesting that CXCL10 plays a role in joint inflammation.
Explains Dr. Gladman, “It is increasingly important for us to look beyond clinical features to improve how psoriatic arthritis is diagnosed. Our results suggest that CXCL10 might be a useful screening tool in this regard, either alone or in combination with other clinical information, allowing us to prevent more serious complications of the disease.”
This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Krembil Foundation and the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.
C-X-C motif chemokine 10 is a possible biomarker for the development of psoriatic arthritis among patients with psoriasis. Abji F, Pollock RA, Liang K, Chandran V, Gladman DD. Arthritis & Rheumatology. doi: 10.1002/art.39800. 2016 Jul 7. [Pubmed abstract]