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.