Metabolomics Studies in Psoriatic Disease: A Review

Metabolomics investigates a broad range of small molecules, allowing researchers to understand disease-related changes downstream of the genome and proteome in response to external environmental stimuli. It is an emerging technology that holds promise in identifying biomarkers and informing the practice of precision medicine. In this review, we summarize the studies that have examined endogenous metabolites in patients with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or mass spectrometry (MS) and were published through 26 January 2021. A standardized protocol was used for extracting data from full-text articles identified by searching OVID Medline ALL, OVID Embase, OVID Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and BIOSIS Citation Index in Web of Science. Thirty-two studies were identified, investigating various sample matrices and employing a wide variety of methods for each step of the metabolomics workflow. The vast majority of studies identified metabolites, mostly amino acids and lipids that may be associated with psoriasis diagnosis and activity. Further exploration is needed to identify and validate metabolomic biomarkers that can accurately and reliably predict which psoriasis patients will develop psoriatic arthritis, differentiate psoriatic arthritis patients from patients with other inflammatory arthritides and measure psoriatic arthritis activity.