Psoriasis is a common chronic and recurrent inflammatory skin disorder that has been associated with oxidative stress, abnormal plasma lipid metabolism and with high frequency of cardiovascular events. This prevalence seems to be related to the severity of psoriasis, as it occurs more frequently in patients presenting large areas of the body affected with psoriasis lesions. The aim of our work was to evaluate the development of oxidative stress and of dislipidemia in psoriasis, and to look for a correlation between their levels and worsening of psoriasis. We evaluated lipid profile, total antioxidant capacity, antioxidant vitamins A and E, and lipoperoxidation products. The study was performed in controls and in patients presenting mild and severe psoriasis. Patients presented risk changes in lipid profile (a rise in cholesterol (P<0.01), triglycerides (P<0.001), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.01), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.01), apolipoprotein B (P<0.001) and lipoprotein(a) (P<0.001); and a reduction in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.001)), a rise in lipoperoxidation products (P<0.001) and a reduction in total antioxidant capacity (P<0.001) and in antioxidant vitamins A (P<0.001) and E (P<0.05). Moreover, we found that the worsening of psoriasis was associated with the enhancement of oxidative stress and of the lipid risk changes. Our data suggest that psoriasis patients must be considered as a group at risk for cardiovascular disease and that this risk seems to be higher in severe psoriasis. In addition, a possible benefit of an enriched diet or of a supplement of vitamins A and E in psoriasis patients should be further studied.

We propose values for elastase, CRP, elastase/alpha(2)-macroglobulin, elastase/alpha(1)-antitrypsin, thiobarbituric acid/TAS and elastase/neutrophil ratios with prognostic significance for the worsening of psoriasis.

In psoriatic patients, increased overweight/obesity was associated with raised leptin levels and decreased adiponectin levels. Leptin may contribute to enhance the inflammatory process in overweight/obese psoriatic patients. Resistin, IL-6, CRP and adiponectin levels appear to be dependent on psoriasis severity. CRP, together with IL-6, appears to be a useful marker of psoriasis severity. Both NBUVB and PUVA were effective; however, PUVA results seem to be more successful. Nonetheless, after NBUVB and PUVA, a low-grade inflammation still persists.

Diabetes mellitus has emerged as one of the main alarms to human health in the 21st century. Pronounced changes in the human environment, behavior and lifestyle have accompanied globalization, which resulted in escalating rates of both obesity and diabetes, already described as diabesity. This pandemic causes deterioration of life quality with high socio-economic costs, particularly due to premature morbidity and mortality. To avoid late complications of type 2 diabetes and related costs, primary prevention and early treatment are therefore necessary. In this context, effective non-pharmacological measures, such as regular physical activity, are imperative to avoid complications, as well as polymedication, which is associated with serious side-effects and drug-to-drug interactions.Our previous work showed, in an animal model of obese type 2 diabetes, the Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat, that regular and moderate intensity physical exercise (training) is able, per se, to attenuate insulin resistance and control glycaemia, dyslipidaemia and blood pressure, thus reducing cardiovascular risk, by interfering with the pathophysiological mechanisms at different levels, including oxidative stress and low-grade inflammation, which are key features of diabesity.This paper briefly reviews the wide pathophysiological pathways associated with Type 2 diabetes and then discusses in detail the benefits of training therapy on glycaemic control and on cardiovascular risk profile in Type 2 diabetes, focusing particularly on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Based on the current knowledge, including our own findings using an animal model, it is concluded that regular and moderate intensity physical exercise (training), due to its pleiotropic effects, could replace, or at least reduce, the use of anti-diabetic drugs, as well as of other drugs given for the control of cardiovascular risk factors in obese type 2 diabetic patients, working as a physiological "polypill".

We propose CRP as a useful marker of psoriasis severity that could be used to monitor psoriasis and its treatment, and, together with PASI and elastase, could also be used as a global index of severity.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the chronic effect of sitagliptin on metabolic profile, inflammation, and redox status in the Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rat, an animal model of obese type 2 diabetes. Diabetic and obese ZDF (fa/fa) rats and their controls (ZDF +/+) were treated during 6 weeks with vehicle (control) and sitagliptin (10 mg/kg/bw). Glucose, HbA1c, insulin, Total-c, TGs, IL-1β, TNF-α, CRPhs, and adiponectin were assessed in serum and MDA and TAS in serum, pancreas, and heart. Pancreatic histology was also evaluated. Sitagliptin in diabetic rats promoted a decrease in glucose, HbA1c, Total-c, and TGs accompanied by a partial prevention of insulinopenia, together, with a decrease in CRPhs and IL-1β. Sitagliptin also showed a positive impact on lipid peroxidation and hypertension prevention. In conclusion, chronic sitagliptin treatment corrected the glycaemic dysmetabolism, hypertriglyceridaemia, inflammation, and hypertension, reduced the severity of the histopathological lesions of pancreatic endocrine and exocrine tissues, together with a favourable redox status, which might be a further advantage in the management of diabetes and its proatherogenic comorbidities.

Psoriasis seems to be a complex disease in which the cytokine network is disturbed, namely in levels of IL-22, IL-17, IL-23, IL-8, TNF-α and VEGF. NB-UVB and PUVA follow-up studies suggested that the reduction in the IL-23/Th17 axis might be important in the pathogenic mechanisms of psoriasis. Further follow-up studies of patients with psoriasis treated with these and other therapies could be very helpful for the understanding of the disturbance in the cytokine network in psoriasis and indirectly in its pathogenesis.

This study was performed to assess the effect of chronic low-dose sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, on metabolic profile and on renal lesions aggravation in a rat model of type-2 diabetic nephropathy, the Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rat. Diabetic and obese ZDF (fa/fa) rats and their controls ZDF (+/+) were treated for 6 weeks with vehicle (control) or sitagliptin (10 mg/kg/bw). Blood/serum glucose, HbA1c, insulin, Total-c, TGs, urea, and creatinine were assessed, as well as kidney glomerular and tubulointerstitial lesions (interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy), using a semiquantitative rating from 0 (absent/normal) to 3 (severe and extensive damage). Vascular lesions were scored from 0–2. Sitagliptin in the diabetic rats promoted an amelioration of glycemia, HbA1c, Total-c, and TGs, accompanied by a partial prevention of insulinopenia. Furthermore, together with urea increment prevention, renal lesions were ameliorated in the diabetic rats, including glomerular, tubulointerstitial, and vascular lesions, accompanied by reduced lipid peroxidation. In conclusion, chronic low-dose sitagliptin treatment was able to ameliorate diabetic nephropathy, which might represent a key step forward in the management of T2DM and this serious complication.