Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Levels in a Population of Eastern European Naïve Versus Treated Psoriasis Patients

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease, with a major impact on the patients' quality of life. Oxidative stress (OS) is represented by the imbalance between oxidant and antioxidant mechanisms of the organism, with increased levels being described in the majority of chronic diseases. We present the first prospective study in Romania to evaluate the redox balance changes (using a CR3000 analyzer) in patients with moderate-severe psoriasis based on treatment regimens: treatment-naïve (A), treatment with novel targeted agents (B) and methotrexate (C). The study group included 53 Caucasian patients divided into three groups (A- 27 patients, B - 15 patients, and C - 11 patients) for which OS, antioxidant status, standard blood count, and inflammatory status were evaluated. Our findings demonstrate that patients with psoriasis display high levels of OS, with elevated Free Oxygen Radical Test (FORT) (p-value for group A (pA)<0.0001, p-value for group B (pB)=0.0019 and p-value for group C (pC)=0.0063) and reduced Free Oxygen Radical Defense (FORD) (pB=0.018) values noted in our subjects. Higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) values were detected in groups B (pB=0.00012) and C (pC<0.00001). Psoriasis treatments alleviate FORT and FORD levels, but their impact is not sufficient to restore the oxidative balance to normal ranges. Moreover, despite adequate treatment, patients with psoriasis display elevated inflammation levels. Future research should explore in more detail the interplay between OS and inflammation in psoriasis, namely the long-term impact on the redox balance of biotherapies.

Keywords: antioxidant status; biotherapies; methotrexate; oxidative stress; psoriasis; redox balance.