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The Microbiome and Psoriatic Arthritis

  • PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS (O FITZGERALD AND P HELLIWELL, SECTION EDITORS)
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Abstract

Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory joint disease, seen in combination with the chronic inflammatory skin disease psoriasis and belonging to the family of spondylarthritides (SpA). A link is recognized between psoriatic arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Environmental factors seem to induce inflammatory disease in individuals with underlying genetic susceptibility. The microbiome is a subject of increasing interest in the etiology of these inflammatory immune-mediated diseases. The intestinal microbiome is able to affect extra-intestinal distant sites, including the joints, through immunomodulation. At this point, evidence regarding a relationship between the microbiome and psoriatic arthritis is scarce. However, we hypothesize that common immune-mediated inflammatory pathways seen in the “skin–joint–gut axis” in psoriatic arthritis are induced or at least mediated by the microbiome. Th17 has a crucial function in this mechanism. Further establishment of this connection may lead to novel therapeutic approaches for psoriatic arthritis.

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Hester Eppinga, Sergey R. Konstantinov, Maikel P. Peppelenbosch, and H. Bing Thio declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psoriatic Arthritis

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Eppinga, H., Konstantinov, S.R., Peppelenbosch, M.P. et al. The Microbiome and Psoriatic Arthritis. Curr Rheumatol Rep 16, 407 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11926-013-0407-2

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