Molecular Commonalities Between Psoriasis and Obesity

Inflammatory commonalities between psoriasis and obesity were characterized through transcriptomic analyses as reported in a recent study published in Genes & Immunity.

Researchers aimed to explore the common inflammatory mechanisms underlying the high comorbidity between psoriasis and obesity through a meta-analysis of publicly available RNA-sequencing datasets. Using late-stage, disease-specific meta-analyses and consensus gene co-expression network analysis (cWGCNA), the researchers sought to uncover potential mechanisms exacerbating both conditions.

Single-gene meta-analyses identified common inflammatory pathways influenced by altered expression profiles of inflammatory cells. Examination of gene overlaps between psoriasis and obesity revealed significant overlaps in both up- and down-regulated genes, indicating increased T cell response and activated transcription factors.

The cWGCNA approach further elucidated 48 consensus modules associated with leukocyte differentiation or metabolic pathways, displaying similar correlation signals in both diseases. Notably, the perturbed T helper 17 differentiation pathway emerged as a consistent association in both psoriasis and obesity.

“Our novel findings through whole transcriptomic analyses characterize the inflammatory commonalities between psoriasis and obesity implying the assessment of several expression profiles that could serve as putative comorbid disease progression biomarkers and therapeutic interventions,” the authors concluded.

Reference
Antonatos C, Georgakilas GK, Evangelou E, Vasilopoulos Y. Transcriptomic meta-analysis characterizes molecular commonalities between psoriasis and obesity. Genes Immun. Published online April 5, 2024. doi:10.1038/s41435-024-00271-w