The increased carotid artery IMT in patients with chronic psoriasis suggesting that chronic psoriasis is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. So, dermatologists should advice their patients to avoid traditional cardiovascular risk factors and to routinely checkup to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the vitamin D status in treatment-naïve SLE patients and its association with clinical and laboratory markers of disease activity, including serum levels of IL-17 and IL-23. Methods Fifty-seven treatment-naïve SLE patients along with 42 matched controls were included. SLEDAI score was used to estimate disease activity. Serum levels of 25(OH) D, IL-17 and IL-23 were measured. Results The median level of 25(OH) D in SLE patients (40.8; 4-70 ng/ml) was significantly lower than in the controls (47; 25-93 ng/ml) ( P = 0.001). A total of 38.6% of SLE cases had 25 (OH) D levels < 30 ng/ml (hypovitaminosis D) vs. 4.8% of the controls ( P < 0.0001). Apart from thrombocytopenia, vitamin D was not associated with clinical signs of SLE. There were negative correlations between serum 25(OH) D and serum levels of IL-17, IL-23 and ANA (rho = -0.5, -0.8, -0.5, P ≤ 0.05) in SLE patients. Conclusion Hypovitaminosis D is prevalent in treatment naïve SLE patients. It contributes to ANA antibody production and is associated with high serum levels of IL-23 and IL-17; thus they may trigger the inflammatory process in SLE.

International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology Research Article IL-17 in primary knee osteoarthritis and its relation with severity of the disease Objective: Is to measure serum level of interleukin 17 and correlate its level with disease severity in patients with primary knee OA. Methods: Serum was collected from patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and age-and sex-matched healthy control subjects. IL-17 was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Osteoarthritis severity and grade were assessed using the Lequesne index and Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) grading system, respectively. Results: Serum IL-17 concentrations are significantly higher in patients (1039.5 pg/ml) than in controls (55 pg/ml) with p value<0.001. This is significantly positively correlated with degree of WOMAC, pain scale, Lequesne index, KL grade and with MRI grades. Conclusions: According to the results of the present study we can conclude that there is a strong relation between serum level of IL-17 and primary knee osteoarthritis and this may reflect the degree of severity of the disease to some extent

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