Characterization of the abnormal lipid profile in Chinese patients with psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that has been associated with abnormal lipid metabolism. To characterize the lipid profile in Chinese, 86 patients with psoriasis and 84 healthy control subjects were assessed. Compared with healthy controls, the fasting serum values of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) were lower in the patient group. Compared with vulgaris psoriasis, special types of psoriasis had even lower levels of HDL-C and ApoA-I. Considering the severity of psoriasis, the level of ApoA-I and HDL-C were also the only two serum lipid parameters decreased in the mild group compared to those in controls. In the moderate and the severe group, the values of TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and ApoA-I were all decreased compared to healthy control group. Further analysis indicated that the values of HDL-C and ApoA-I were significantly lower in the severe group compared to the moderate group. Correlation analysis indicated that the levels of HDL-C but not ApoA-I was negatively associated with the severity of the disease. Interestingly, when psoriasis was improved by treatment, the serum levels of TG, TC, HDL-C and ApoA-I were increased from the pre-treatment values. We conclude that abnormalities in serum lipid metabolism may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Chinese patients with psoriasis.