AUTHOR=Orro Kadri , Salk Kristiina , Abram Kristi , Arshavskaja Jelena , Meikas Anne , Karelson Maire , Neuman Toomas , Kingo Külli , Spee Pieter 

TITLE=Assessment of soluble skin surface protein levels for monitoring psoriasis vulgaris in adult psoriasis patients using non-invasive transdermal analysis patch: A pilot study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1072160

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2023.1072160

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=To improve of care of patients with chronic inflammatory skin condition such as psoriasis, diagnostic methods that can facilitate personalized medicine are needed. This study aimed to determine whether non-invasive measurements of inflammation related proteins from psoriatic skin can be sampled using FibroTx Transdermal Analysis Patch (TAP) to assess disease severity and to monitor pharmacodynamic changes. Healthy volunteers and psoriasis vulgaris patients were enrolled to exploratory study where skin surface protein measurements were performed using TAP. For patients scores of psoriasis activity and severity were documented, differences in thickness of skin layers were determined using sonography. To evaluate whether the skin surface IL-1a, IL-1RA CXCL-1/2 and hBD-1 levels associate with the disease activity and severity measurements from these skin surface proteins of psoriasis patients undergoing whole body treatment with narrow-band UVB was assessed. Using TAP technology clear differences in levels of IL-1, IL-1RA, CXCL-1/2 and hBD-1 were found between psoriasis lesional and non-lesional skin. In addition, a positive correlation between CXCL-1/2 and desquamation, and between CXCL-1/2 and SLEB thickness where observed. During the course of UVB treatment the TAP measurements reveal clear reduction of IL-1RA, CXCL 1/2, and hBD-1 on lesional skin. Further, skin surface measurements of IL-1RA and CXCL-1/2 displayed a different profile than achieved by visual scoring of local inflammation, thus indicating that measuring the ‘molecular root’ of inflammation appears to have value as an objective, non-invasive biomarker measurement for scoring disease severity in its own right.