Osteopontin and adiponectin: how far are they related in the complexity of psoriasis?

Increasing attention has been drawn towards the involvement of both osteopontin (OPN) and adiponectin in psoriasis. The relationship between them has been studied before in the context of essential hypertension. To our knowledge, whether a relation between them exists in cases of psoriasis and the metabolic status in such patients have not been investigated. We aimed to verify their possible roles and relations in psoriasis and its metabolic associations. 35 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 35 controls were included. Patients were clinically assessed by PASI and investigated for the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and/or its components. Plasma levels of OPN and adiponectin were measured using ELISA. On comparing psoriatics to controls, patients showed significantly elevated levels of OPN (90.474 ± 21.22 vs 34.709 ± 13.95 ng/mL) and significantly depressed levels of adiponectin (4,586 ± 1.187 vs 5,905 ± 1.374 ng/mL), (p < 0.001). Strong negative correlation between plasma OPN and adiponectin was detected in patients (r = -0.912, p < 0.001), but not in controls. OPN elevation was related to diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, and MetS. Adiponectin depression was related to body mass index, and MetS. This study demonstrates for the first time a significant correlation between OPN and adiponectin in psoriasis, hypothesized to be mostly attributed to the inflammatory milieu of psoriasis and MetS as well as the enhanced renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system previously documented in psoriasis. Adjuvant therapies aiming at modulating levels of OPN and adiponectin are speculated to add benefit in psoriasis treatment and protecting against its metabolic risks.