Expression of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase in Psoriatic Lesional Skin

Abstract

Background:Little information is known about telomerase expression in the chronic benign hyperproliferative skin disease, psoriasis. Further studies are still required to investigate its usefulness as a biomarker of this skin disorder.Aim:To investigate the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in psoriatic lesional skin and its relation to disease severity.Methods:The levels of hTERT-mRNA were quantified using real time RT-PCR in lesional versus nonlesional skin specimens from 24 psoriatic patients.Results:The expression of hTERT was detected in 16 psoriatic lesional specimens (66.7%), but in none of the normal skin. There was no relation between hTERT expression level and age of the patient or the duration of the disease. Among hTERT-positive patients, a significant positive correlation was observed between hTERT-mRNA levels and both the Psoriasis Area-and-Severity Index (PASI) and scaling scores (p= 0.012 &p= 0.006, respectively).Conclusion:Telomerase mRNA is detectable in lesional skin of most psoriatic patients and correlates with the severity of the disease and the rate of epidermal proliferation.