The role of candida albicans in the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris: a systematic literature review

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease that is related to many genetic, and environmental factors, as well as infectious pathogens. Findings suggest that the Candida species, particularly Candida albicans, may play a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris. In this study, we aimed to systematically review the possible association between C. albicans and the prevalence of psoriasis.
A systematic search of existing literature was performed in the PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases and the Google search engine using the following search strategy ((Candida albicans OR C. albicans OR Candida)) AND (psoriasis vulgaris OR plaque psoriasis OR psoriasis) to find relevant articles that described a possible positive or negative association between C. albicans and the incidence or progression of psoriasis. The search was not limited to articles that were published within a specific time period; however, only those written in the English language were included in the review.
Of the 499 articles in total that were identified during the initial database search, 491 were excluded from the review because they failed to meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The total number of people involved in the selected studies, including both patients and healthy controls, was 1260. The analysis of the results of the included documents showed that the colonization of C. albicans is more prevalent in biological specimens taken from psoriatic patients.
Studies show that C. albicans, opportunistic yeast, like diploid fungus, may be involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.