CNVs Associated with Different Clinical Phenotypes of Psoriasis and Anti-TNF-Induced Palmoplantar Pustulosis

Background: Psoriasis can present different phenotypes and could affect diverse body areas. In contrast to the high effectiveness of biological drugs in the treatment of trunk and extremities plaque psoriasis, in palmoplantar phenotypes and in plaque scalp psoriasis, these same drugs usually have reduced efficacy. Anti-TNF drugs could induce the appearance of palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) in patients with other inflammatory diseases. The objective of this study is to identify if there are DNA Copy Number Variations (CNVs) associated with these different clinical phenotypes, which could justify the differences found in clinical practice. Moreover, we intend to elucidate if anti-TNF-induced PPP has a similar genetic background to idiopathic PPP. Methods: Skin samples were collected from 39 patients with different patterns of psoriasis and six patients with anti-TNF-induced PPP. The CNVs were obtained from methylation array data (Illumina Infinium Human Methylation) using the conumee R package. Results: No significant CNVs were found between the different phenotypes and the locations of psoriasis compared. Nevertheless, we found two significant bins harboring five different genes associated with anti-TNF-induced PPP in patients with a different background other than psoriasis. Conclusions: Our results may help to predict which patients could develop anti-TNF-induced PPP.

Automated summary

This study aims to identify DNA copy number variations (CNVs) associated with different clinical phenotypes of psoriasis, and to explore the genetic background of anti-TNF-induced palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). The results suggest that certain genes may play a role in the development of anti-TNF-induced PPP.