Pathway Profiling Antibodies
& Reagents for Cell Biology and Immunology
Psoriasis: A Swine Flu (H1N1) Risk Factor?
On 6/09/2009, the World Health
Organization classified swine flu influenza (H1N1) to be the first influenza
pandemic of the 21st century.1 Elucidating risk factors,
illness patterns and transmission characteristics are among the highest
priorities in H1N1 epidemiological studies.
An individual with psoriasis
is among the mortalities, and the victim’s widower has filed a wrongful death
claim against a nearby pig farm. The lawsuit alleges that the victim was in
“perfect health” and that conditions at the pig farm were responsible for her
swine flu illness.2 How is “psoriasis” relevant to this
case?
Psoriasis is a common, chronic, inflammatory, hyperproliferative
skin condition affecting approximately 2% of the population.3
It is increasingly being recognized that the chronic inflammation associated
with psoriasis impacts other organs of the body, and that psoriasis is actually
a multi-system disease. Associated disorders include psoriatic arthritis,
diabetes, and inflammatory bowel and heart disease.
Although the
mechanisms linking psoriasis to systemic disease remain to be fully elucidated,
current models indicate involvement of both the innate and adaptive immune
systems.4 Understanding the significance of psoriasis and
other immune system disorders as predisposing and/or complicating risk factors
for H1N1 infection will undoubtedly also be key in determining the outcome of
the “Who done it” H1N1 Death versus Pig Farm lawsuit.
ELISA analysis of PBS wash from normal skin and
psoriatic lesions using the Psoriasin/S100A7/HID5
ActivELISA™
Kit (IMK-514).
Psoriasin
(IMG-409A) in Breast Cancer/Normal Adjacent (IMB-130a)
Psoriasin (IMG-409A) in
Colon Cancer/Normal Adjacent (IMB-131a)
Western blot analysis of Psoriasin/S100A7/HID5 (IMG-409A) in Breast (IMB-130a) and Colon (IMB-131a) Tissue OncoPair INSTA-Blots™. T = tumor lysate. N = normal
adjacent lysate. Each blot contains tissue from seven different patient donors.
Psoriasin is detected in some, but not all tissue samples.
Psoriasin/S100A7/HID5
overexpression is a hallmark of psoriasis. Psoriasin is also upregulated in
abnormally differentiating keratinocytes, various cancers and immune disorders,
healing wounds and stem cells. It is thought that psoriasin may play a role in
the establishment or maintenance of various pathologies as well as normal
processes. Psoriasis has also been proposed as a potential diagnostic marker of
abnormally proliferative epithelia.
