Metabolic Changes and Serum Ghrelin Level in Patients with Psoriasis

Abstract

Background. Serum ghrelin levels may be related to metabolic and clinical changes in patients with psoriasis. Objective. This study was performed to determine the possible effects of serum ghrelin in patients with psoriasis. Methods. The study population consisted of 25 patients with plaque psoriasis. The patients were questioned with regard to age, gender, age of onset, duration of disease, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI). In addition, fasting blood sugar, triglyceride, cholesterol levels, insulin, and ghrelin levels were measured. Results. The mean serum ghrelin level was 45.41 ± 22.41 in the psoriasis group and 29.92 ± 14.65 in the healthy control group. Serum ghrelin level was significantly higher in the psoriasis group compared with the controls (P = 0.01). The mean ghrelin level in patients with a lower PASI score was significantly higher than in those with a higher PASI score (P = 0.02). Conclusion. The present study was performed to determine the effects of ghrelin in psoriasis patients. We found a negative correlation between severity of psoriasis and ghrelin level. Larger and especially experimental studies focusing on correlation of immune system-ghrelin levels and severity of psoriasis may be valuable to clarify the etiopathogenesis of the disease.

The role of hormones in the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris

“…Ghrelin can antagonize the insulin system [ 118 ] and there is a negative correlation between severity of psoriasis and ghrelin level [ 119 ].…”

Serum ghrelin levels in patients with Behcet’s disease

“…In this study, significantly lower ghrelin levels in BD patients, and also in active BD patients could be explained by elevated cytokine levels in BD patients. Few studies reported a negative correlation between ghrelin levels and the severity of psoriasis [35, 38]. Similarly, Koca et al [27] stated that inflammation and cytokines could be a reason for lower ghrelin levels in RA.…”

Lessons to be learned from serum biomarkers in psoriasis and IBD – the potential role in SpA

“…Extensively studied adipokines in serum and plasma were resistin, leptin, adiponectin, ghrelin, and retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4). With the exception of adiponectin, all serum and plasma adipokine levels were significantly higher in psoriasis versus healthy individuals [76,79,[82][83][84][85][86]88]. Only serum resistin levels correlated weakly with PASI (r 2 = 0.027) and none of the adipokines consistently showed a normalization in levels after effective treatment [76,80,81,83,86,87] Growth factors are involved in angiogenesis and hypervascularity in psoriasis and are well studied as biomarkers.…”