Researchers have found that the hormone estradiol suppresses psoriasis, potentially explaining the difference in prevalence between sexes and providing a basis for therapeutic potential.
The findings were published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
“Our results have not only revealed the molecular mechanisms of sex differences in psoriasis but also shed new light on our understanding of the physiological role of estradiol,” said study author Tetsuya Honda, MD, PhD, in a press release. Dr. Honda is a professor at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine in Hamamatsu, Japan.
This study was conducted in a mouse model. Animals made unable to produce estradiol developed symptoms of severe skin inflammation. Unaltered mice did not develop symptoms. When the mice with inflamed skin were given estradiol, the inflammation was reversed, with a decreased production of IL-17A and IL-1β cytokines by neutrophils and macrophage cells.
The same reduction in inflammatory cytokine production was seen in vitro in human neutrophils.
“These results indicate that estradiol suppresses psoriatic inflammation by regulating neutrophil and macrophage cells,” said Dr. Honda.