Hyperproliferation is the main driver of metabolomic changes in psoriasis lesional skin

Systematic understanding of the metabolite signature of diseases may lead to a closer understanding of the disease pathogenesis and ultimately to the development of novel therapies and diagnostic tools. Here we compared for the first time the full metabolomic profiles of lesional and non-lesional skin biopsies obtained from plaque psoriasis patients and skin samples of healthy controls. Significant differences in the concentration levels of 29 metabolites were identified that provide several novel insights into the metabolic pathways of psoriatic lesions. The metabolomic profile of the lesional psoriatic skin is mainly characterized by hallmarks of increased cell proliferation. As no significant differences were identified between non-lesional skin and healthy controls we conclude that local inflammatory process that drives the increased cell proliferation is the main cause of the identified metabolomic shifts.