The Expression level of hypoxia inducible factor 1α gene in psoriatic patients in Suez Canal region

HIF1α

Abstract

Objective To compare the expression of the HIF-1α gene in patients with psoriasis to that of healthy controls to assess the role of the HIF-1α gene in the initiation, progression and severity of psoriasis.  Methods A case–control study with 36 patients with psoriasis and 36 healthy controls was conducted. Blood samples were taken from both the patients and controls. For both groups, the relative expression of the HIF-1α gene will be evaluated using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique.  Results PASI scores ranged from 2–34. Eighteen patients (50%) had mild psoriasis, 9 patients (25%) had moderate psoriasis and 9 patients (25%) had severe psoriasis. Only 6 patients (16.7%) had a family history of psoriasis. The mean BMI for population with psoriasis was 24.06±3.18. The control group matched the psoriasis group regarding age, gender. The mean relative HIF-1α expression levels of the psoriatic and control groups were 3.38±1.87 and 1.0±0.0, respectively. The main findings were that there was a significant increase in the HIF-1α gene expression in patients with psoriasis compared with controls, and that expression level significantly increased with psoriasis severity.   Conclusion HIF-1α expression level was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis compared to healthy controls, implying its role throughout psoriasis pathogenesis.