Assessment of serum elafin as a possible inflammatory marker in psoriasis

Background Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder presented by light-pink or red thick skin plaques covered with whites scales, and it negatively affects patients’ quality of life. Aim The aim was to evaluate the serum level of elafin in patients with psoriasis and its correlation with the disease severity. Patients and methods This a case–control study that included 90 subjects classified into group I, which included 60 patients with moderate to severe psoriasis according to psoriasis area severity index (PASI), and group II, which included 30 apparent healthy age-matched and sex-matched participants as a control group. All patients were subjected to history taking, including age, duration, family history, and previous treatment; complete general examination, including weight, height, and blood pressure; complete dermatological examination; severity assessed by PASI score; and elafin serum level measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Results The mean serum elafin level in the case group was 6.09±8.91, which was significantly higher than the level in the control group (0.40±0.35), with P less than 0.001. There was a positive significant correlation between elafin level and PASI in the case group (r=0.467 and P Conclusion This positive expressiveness of elafin in patients with psoriasis could be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of psoriasis from other similar inflammatory skin diseases and in determining the accurate disease pathogenesis. Moreover, it can be helpful in the future for the development of new possible therapeutic options.