The research project, which involves more than 1,000 psoriasis patients or their relatives, also has provided evidence which may help explain why people with an inflammatory gastrointestinal disorder called Crohn's Disease are seven times more likely than the general populace to suffer from psoriasis. The U-M research for the first time has implicated a portion of Chromosome 16 in psoriasis. The paper marks the first time that teams of scientists working independently have pinpointed the same genetic regions involved in making people vulnerable to psoriasis. Additional research is needed to isolate the specific genes involved and to ascertain the precise role each plays in triggering psoriasis, said Dr. James Elder, senior author of the study and an associate professor in the U-M Dermatology Department. The discovery of a region of Chromosome 16 harboring a psoriasis gene may help explain the link between psoriasis and Crohn's disease, which has been traced by other researchers to the same location on Chromosome 16 as psoriasis, Elder said.
Psoriasis is characterized by red patches covered with a thick silvery scale.
About 400 people a year die from complications of psoriasis or its treatment.