Cutaneous vascular response to calcitonin gene-related peptide in psoriasis and normal subjects

To determine whether cutaneous blood vessels in subjects with psoriasis possess a generalized inherently abnormal response to neuropeptides, the effect of three doses of intradermally injected calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) on skin blood flow in normal subjects (n = 10), and on clinically normal skin (greater than 5 cm from psoriatic lesions) in subjects with psoriasis (n = 9) was measured using a laser Doppler technique. Calcitonin gene-related peptide caused a dose-dependent increase in local blood flow in both psoriatic and normal subjects, which was not statistically different between the two groups. This study has shown that the cutaneous vasculature at sites distant from lesions of psoriasis (> 5 cm) is not inherently different from normal skin in its response to CGRP.