Serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 and their clinical significance in patients with psoriasis vulgaris at the progressive stage

Abstract

[Objective] To investigate the serum levels of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) and C-C chemokine ligand 19 (CCL19) in patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) at the progressive stage and their clinical significance. [Methods] From January 2021 to June 2023, 86 psoriatic patients at the progressive stage were enrolled. The patients were divided into mild, moderate, and severe groups according to the severity of disease. A total of 86 healthy individuals who underwent routine physical examination were enrolled during the same period. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied to detect the levels of sST2, CCL19, interleukin-17A, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23 in the serum of both groups. Pearson and Spearman′s methods were used to analyze the correlation of serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 with inflammatory cytokines and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI), respectively. The influencing factors of PV were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. ROC curve was plotted to analyze the diagnostic value of serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 for PV. [Results] The serum levels of sST2, CCL19, IL-17A, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23 in the study group were significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The serum levels of sST2, CCL19, IL-17A, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23 were positively associated with disease severity (P<0.05). Pearson′s correlation analysis showed that the serum level of sST2 was positively correlated with CCL19 (P<0.05), and both sST2 and CCL19 levels were positively correlated with the levels of IL-17A, IL-21, IL-22, and IL-23 (P<0.05). Moreover, Spearman′s correlation indicated that the serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 were positively correlated with PASI (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 were risk factors for PV (P<0.05). According to the ROC curve, the combination of serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 was superior to individual marker in the diagnosis of PV (Z=2.71, Z=2.70, P<0.05). [Conclusions] The serum levels of sST2 and CCL19 are greatly elevated in patients with PV at the progressive stage, and the combination of these two biomarkers can be helpful in the diagnosis of PV at the progressive stage.

Keywords

• psoriasis vulgaris
• progressive stage
• soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2
• c-c chemokine ligand 19