A study identified themes present in immune cell dysregulation that make sustained treatment and early diagnosis of psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) challenging. The results were reported in Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy.
In this review analysis, researchers assessed transcriptional profiles and cellular interactions unique to both PsO and PsA which impact T cells, myeloid cells, keratinocytes, innate lymphoid cells, and stromal cells. In total, they analyzed 22 single-cell studies.
Following analysis, the researchers uncovered several themes. For one, they noted small subpopulations have a profound effect on disease pathogenesis. Multiple cell types discerned using single-cell RNA sequencing play important roles in PsO pathogenesis, which the investigators noted is contrary to the traditional paradigm focusing on IL-23/IL-17 signaling among dendritic cells and T cells.
Moreover, the researchers observed immune cell states are dynamic, and psoriatic subpopulations of cells re-activate and differentiate into inflammatory phenotypes depending on signaling. Notably, the study found that machine-learning models exhibit great potential in identifying biomarkers to diagnose clinically ambiguous rashes and PsA earlier on.
Reference: Jin JQ, Wu D, Spencer R, et al. Biologic insights from single-cell studies of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2022;22(12):1449-1461. doi:10.1080/14712598.2022.2142465
