A new study reveals a surprising connection between psoriasis and gut inflammation, shedding light on gastrointestinal issues and the risk of Crohn’s disease in patients with the chronic skin condition. New Delhi: People with psoriasis -- a skin condition -- often have invisible inflammation in the small intestine that increases their propensity for ‘leaky gut’, according to a research Monday. The gut inflammation may explain why psoriasis patients often have gastrointestinal problems and are more prone to developing Crohn’s disease, said the team at Uppsala University in Sweden.
Psoriasis is a hereditary, chronic skin condition that can also result in inflammation of the joints. Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), especially Crohn’s disease, are more common in patients with psoriasis than in the rest of the population. The small study involved 18 patients with psoriasis and 15 healthy controls as subjects.
None of the participants had been diagnosed with gastrointestinal diseases. Samples were taken from both their small and large bowel. The researchers then studied different types of immune cells in the mucous membrane.
They found that people with psoriasis had higher numbers of certain types of immune cells in their small intestine. These cells also "showed signs of pro-inflammatory activity”, said Maria Lampinen, researcher at Uppsala University. "Interestingly, we found the same type of immune cells in skin flare-ups from psoriasis patients, suggesting.
