Background: Excessive angiogenesis is one of the characteristic features of psoriasis.
Objective: To determine the possible genetic background of neo-angiogenesis in plaque psoriasis, frequent polymorphisms in matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and endothelin 1 (ET-1) genes were studied.
Methods: The case group (n = 119) included patients with plaque psoriasis, aged 44 +/- 15 years. The age of onset of psoriasis was 27 +/- 11 years. The control group (n = 184) consisted of healthy subjects without any individual history of psoriasis, aged 37 +/- 15 years. C(-735)T MMP-2 and G(8002)A ET-1 polymorphisms were determined by PCR reaction with subsequent restriction analyses.
Results: A significant difference in genotype distribution of C(-735)T MMP-2 between psoriatic and control patients was found (p(corr) = 0.008). Two associated genotypes (CCGG and CTGG) of the two polymorphisms were significantly less frequent in psoriatic patients (p(corr) = 0.03 and p(corr) = 0.008, respectively).
Conclusion: The results seem to reflect a different susceptibility of MMP-2 as well as of some associated MMP-2 and ET-1 genotypes to psoriasis.
Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel