Introduction: Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease. Immunological, genetic, and environmental factors have all been implicated in the development of psoriasis. (HOTAIR) is a lncRNA that regulates gene expression through epigenetic modulation and post-translational gene regulation.
Aim of the study: To compare the expression of HOTAIR in psoriasis patients with that of normal, healthy subjects.
Subjects and Methods: A case-control study was conducted on 40 psoriatic patients who were recruited from a dermatology outpatient clinic and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Serum samples were collected, and lncRNA HOTAIR expression was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).
Results: Our results demonstrated a statistically significant up-regulation of the HOTAIR gene expression in the serum of psoriasis patients in comparison with the control subjects (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: This elevated level of Lnc-HOTAIR in the serum of psoriasis patients suggests its possible contribution to the pathogenesis of the disease.