الفهرس 
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Abstract
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that characterized clinically by well demarcated, symmetrical, erythematous papules or plaques with silvery-white scales. It affects 1-3% of the population independent of age and gender. Many clinical variants of psoriasis are identified, but plaque type is the most common. It affects commonly the scalp, elbow, knee, lumbosacral area, skin folds, nails and joints.
Multiple immunological, genetic and environmental factors contribute to psoriasis pathogenesis. Psoriasis is initiated by hyperactivity of local cutaneous innate immunity in genetically susceptible individuals. The inflammatory cascade is produced by interaction between infiltrating leucocytes, proinflammatory cytokines, resident skin cells, chemokines, and adipokines.
Visfatin is an adipokine that induces inflammatory process by increasing cytokines production and activation. It is secreted by visceral adipose tissue and various cells such as neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages as well as epithelial and endothelial cells. So, psoriasis-promoting events may be facilitated by visfatin.
This was a case-control study aimed to detect the expression of visfatin in psoriatic skin of diseased patients as compared to normal control persons to investigate its possible role in the pathogenesis of this disease. The study included 60 individuals; 30 as psoriasis cases selected randomly from the dermatology outpatient clinic according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 30 matched controls.
Tissue samples were collected by punch biobsy from psoriatic lesions and normal skin of the healthy controls. These samples were preserved in sterilized tubes in frozen state at -200C until assayed using ELISA technique.
The study revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between cases and control groups regarding age, sex and family history. As regards onset and course of the disease, there was also no statistically significant difference between patients with different onsets and courses of the disease in visfatin level. While a significant correlation between serum visfatin and duration of psoriasis was found proposing visfatin as a marker of disease chronicity.
The expression of visfatin was significantly higher in psoriasis group rather than in the control one with high sensitivity and specificity. there was no statistically significant difference between patients with different disease grades according to PASI score in the expression of visfatin.
In conclusion, visfatin might play a significant role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.