Introduction
Psoriasis is a relatively common chronic inflammatory cutaneous disease
characterized by epidermal hyperproliferation. It is considered an
immune-mediated inflammatory disorder in which T lymphocytes, dendritic
cells, and cytokines play crucial roles. Multisystem chronic
inflammation in psoriasis can be associated with multiple comorbidities
including obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases1-3. Although the exact etiology remains unknown,
there are various suggested risk factors for psoriasis. Genetic
predisposition is considered a fundamental contributor. Smoking,
obesity, and alcohol use are well-identified risk factors. Drugs and
infections have also been described as triggering factors for psoriasis1, 4.
Chitotriosidase (ChT) is an enzyme, secreted by activated macrophages
and neutrophils, in response to proinflammatory signals. Currently, it
is used as a biochemical marker in the diagnosis and monitoring of
lysosomal storage diseases 5-7. Studies have shown
high activities of ChT in a wide range of diseases such as
atherosclerosis, malaria, bronchial asthma, sarcoidosis, non-alcoholic
steatohepatitis, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and
thalassemia 8-12. Besides, high ChT activity has been
reported to be associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events13. There is growing evidence indicating that ChT
activity reflects inflammatory status. It has been reported that ChT
plays a vital role in the immune response to the chitin-containing
pathogens 14. ChT is produced after at least seven
days of cell culture and increases with time; hence, it is considered a
chronic inflammatory marker rather than an acute-phase reactant15.
In this study, we aimed to investigate whether ChT may serve as a marker
in the prediction of comorbidities in psoriasis which is one of the
common chronic inflammatory skin diseases.