Background: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory disorder of the skin. Psoriasis is a disease of multifactorial origin where certain environmental factors acting on individuals with specific genetic predisposition leads to an immune dysregulation. Claudins are transmembrane proteins, which participate in the formation of tight junctions by binding to the actin cytoskeleton. Claudin-3 present in the blood is considered as a useful biomarker of intestinal permeability. Objective: To evaluate serum level of claudin-3 in patients with psoriasis in comparison to control group and correlate its levels with disease severity . Patients and methods: Fifty-three patients (32 males and 21 females) with psoriasis and forty normal healthy control (23 males and 17 females) who matched the cases group as regard age and sex were included in this work. They were randomly selected from the Dermatology Department outpatient clinic in Mansoura University Hospital. Results: Psoriasis group showed significantly higher level of claudin-3 when compared to control group (mean=58.3 versus 41.2; p<0.001). Smoking was significantly associated with higher Claudin-3 level (p=0.031). In addition, claudin-3 level increased gradually with increased severity grades (p<0.001). No significant associations were found regarding claudin-3 level according to gender, nutritional status, family history, in psoriasis group (p>0.05 for each). Higher BMI, smoking and higher claudin-3 level were associated with prediction of higher PASI score in univariate analysis. While multivariate analysis revealed that only smoking and higher claudin-3 level were considered independent predictor of more severe psoriasis cases. Conclusion: Claudin-3 level was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis than healthy controls. PASI correlated with claudin-3 levels.

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Background: Psoriasis is a common immune mediated and chronic inflammatory skin disorder portrayed as hyperproliferation and maturation impairment of keratinocytes, increased immune cells infiltration and blood vessel formation, and accumulation in proinflammatory cytokines. Psoriasis is now considered a systemic disease where it is associated with psychological, metabolic, arthritic, and cardiovascular comorbidities. Lifespan is reduced as a consequence.Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate serum level of adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (FABP4) in patients with psoriasis vulgaris and to compare it with its level in healthy control. Patients and methods: Seventy-four were included in this study. They were chosen from the Out-patient Clinic of Dermatology, Andrology & STDs Department, Mansoura University Hospitals. A case study group of 37 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 37 of healthy people age-and sex-matched were used as a control group. Results: ROC curve for detection of FABP4 before acitretin validity in differentiating studied cases illustrated excellent area under curve of 0.728 (p < 0.001)* with the best detected cut off point was 2.7 yielding sensitivity of 75%, specificity of 81.1% and total accuracy of 78.1%. So, the present study demonstrated that; detection of FABP4 level before acitretin therapy could be used as reliable indicator in differentiating studied cases with high sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions: Serum FABP4 levels were significantly increased in patients with psoriasis, indicating that this protein may be a potential marker of psoriasis and an independent predictor for the risk of comorbidities or complications in psoriatic patients. Additionally, it could be used also as a reliable indicator of acitretin therapy.