Characterization of Lipoprotein Composition and Function in Pediatric Psoriasis Before and After Treatment

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with early onset cardiovascular disease. Despite studies demonstrating high cholesterol, increased diabetes and higher rate of obesity in psoriasis, these traditional risk factors only explain a fraction of total cardiovascular risk in psoriasis. One-third of the psoriasis patients start developing psoriatic plaques during childhood and studies have shown that the children with psoriasis have similar or higher risk for obesity and future problems with high cholesterol and diabetes. In fact, children have been shown to have abnormal cholesterol as early as age 13 years in psoriasis. However, little is known about how pediatric psoriasis severity affects cholesterol function, including its relationship with proteins involved in inflammation. Importantly, whether treatment of pediatric psoriasis early in the life leads to improvement in cholesterol function and overall lipoprotein composition is unknown. Therefore, the goal of this proposal is to understand the effect of disease activity and psoriasis treatment on cholesterol and metabolic markers in pediatric psoriasis.