Relationship between histomorphological findings and platelet activation in psoriasis

Elevated platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV), and Platelet Mass Index (PMI) are reported in patients with psoriasis, while platelet activation is associated with psoriasis severity. Available studies examining the relationship between platelet activation markers and psoriasis have mostly focused on psoriasis area severity index. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study examining the relationship between histopathological features of a single psoriatic plaque and platelet activation. The present study examined the relationship between histomorphological findings obtained by morphometric analysis and psoriasis patients' PC, MPV, and PMI values.

Morphometric analysis was performed on hematoxylin and eosin-stained preparations of skin biopsies to measure minimum suprapapillary epidermis thickness (SPET_min ) and maximum epidermal thickness (ET_max ), maximum suprapapillary keratosis thickness (SPKT_max ), and maximum keratosis thickness (KT_max ). The relationship between PC, MPV, PMI, and morphometric skin biopsy outcomes was evaluated.

While an inverse correlation was found between SPETmin and PC and PMI in cases with psoriasis (p values = 0.015 and 0.005, r values = -0.238 and -0.271, respectively), no significant correlation was found between SPETmin and MPV (p value = 0.600, r value = -. 052). On the contrary, no significant correlation was found between SPKTmax, ETmax, and KTmax values and platelet parameters.

We assume that an increased risk of platelet activation-related diseases is expected in psoriasis patients displaying histopathological findings of suprapapillary thinning due to increased platelet activation; therefore, it may be beneficial to monitor these patients in terms of such risks.