Chronic Inflammatory Disease

Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory disease in which tendons and ligaments connect to bone. The condition is painful, chronic, and affects joints in about a third of those people with psoriasis. A study in the journal of Arthritis & Rheumatology accessed the involvement of chemokines and their receptors in the psoriatic arthritis process. The press release states, “Chemokines are small molecules with a critical role in the body’s response to inflammation and infection. They help guide the migration of immune cells to the site of injury or trauma. Chemokines need receptors to function. One specific chemokine receptor is CCR6.”

According to the senior author of the study, a significant increase was seen in a specific chemokine and its receptor “in the connective tissue of mice with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. This high presence was also confirmed in inflamed human tendon biopsies.” Sam T. Hwang, professor and chair of dermatology at UC Davis, said that blocking the chemokine “in a mouse model shows potential for treating psoriatic arthritis in humans. Definitely, this requires more testing and clinical trials to explore its effectiveness and safety.”

 

Access the article.

Read the press release.

Other Categories:

• chronic pain

• inflammation

• inflammatory skin disease

• joint dysfunction

• rheumatoid arthritis