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Review
. 2017 May 1;312(5):H867-H873.
doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00774.2016. Epub 2017 Mar 3.

Psoriasis as a human model of disease to study inflammatory atherogenesis

Charlotte L Harrington  1 , Amit K Dey  1 , Raza Yunus  2 , Aditya A Joshi  1 , Nehal N Mehta  3   2
Affiliations
Review

Psoriasis as a human model of disease to study inflammatory atherogenesis

Charlotte L Harrington et al. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. .

Abstract

Inflammation is known to play a significant role in the process of atherogenesis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Indeed, patients with chronic inflammatory diseases are at increased risk for cardiovascular events. However, the mechanisms linking chronic inflammation and CVD remain poorly understood. Psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with a greater risk of early cardiovascular events, provides a suitable human model to study the pathophysiology of inflammatory atherogenesis in humans. Additionally, cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-17A, and other immune pathways are the common links between the pathogenesis of psoriasis and atherosclerosis, and hence the approved treatments for psoriasis, which include selective cytokine inhibition (e.g., anti-TNF, anti-IL-17A, and anti-IL-12/23) and immune modulation (e.g., methotrexate or cyclosporine), provide an opportunity to examine the effect of modulating these pathways on atherogenesis. We have been using this human model in a large, prospective cohort study, and this review summarizes our approach and results of using this human model to study inflammatory atherogenesis. Specifically, we review simultaneous multimodal imaging of several vascular beds using 18fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, 18fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/MRI, and coronary computed tomography angiography as well as cardiovascular biomarkers to better understand how modulation of inflammation may impact vascular diseases.

Keywords: 18fludeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography; atherosclerosis; cardiovascular imaging; inflammation; psoriasis.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Potential pathways involved in accelerated atherogenesis observed in psoriasis. TG, triglycerides.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Representative images from 18fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography computed tomography (18FDG-PET/CT) scans in a healthy volunteer control (left) and a patient with psoriasis (right) exhibiting increased uptake of 18FDG at the level of aortic arch (blue arrow) as seen in the transverse section images. The images shown here are from the fused PET scans.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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