Study of serum chitinase-3-like-1 protein (CHI3L1) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients suffering from chronic plaque psoriasis

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease marked by the formation of well-defined raised erythematous plaques on the skin surface with silvery white scales. Chitinase-3-like-1 protein (CHI3L1) is thought to be important in physiological and pathological processes including angiogenesis, mitogenesis, and remodeling. C-reactive protein (CRP) has been suggested as an inflammatory biomarker in psoriasis and other disorders. Objectives: The aim of the current study is to determine the serum levels of CHI3L1 and CRP in psoriasis patients and to compare with healthy controls. In addition, the present study aims to investigate which is more sensitive and specific for diagnosing psoriasis. Materials and Methods: This is a case–control study. Sixty patients were involved in this study, divided into two groups (severe group that contains 30 patients and moderate group that contains 30 patients). Thirty individuals apparently healthy as control subjects were involved in the current study and all of them without any skin disease or other autoimmune diseases. Results: The current study revealed a significant increase in the serum CHI3L1 and CRP among psoriatic patients when compared with healthy controls. Conclusion: CHI3L1 and CRP increase with increased severity of psoriasis disease. CHI3L1 was a more sensitive and specific biomarker than CRP, according to the area under the curve in the receiver-operating characteristic curve test. Therefore, it is a good marker for the diagnosis of psoriasis patients.

Keywords

• body mass index (bmi)
• chitinase-3-like-1protein (chi3l1)
• c-reactive protein (crp)
• psoriasis
• psoriasis area and severity index (pasi) score
• receiver-operating characteristic (roc) curve