Feasibility of establishing deletion of the late cornified envelope genes LCE3B and LCE3C as a susceptibility factor for psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic hyperproliferative inflammatory disease of the skin, genetic predisposition to which is well‑established. The late cornified envelope genes LCE3B and LCE3C are involved in maintaining the integrity of skin barrier especially following skin barrier disruption. The deletion of these genes would lead to an impaired epidermal response following damage to the skin barrier thus predisposing to psoriatic lesions. This study aimed to evaluate the common deletion of late cornified envelope genes (LCE 3B/3C) in psoriasis patients of Kashmiri ethnic population of North India.

It was a hospital‑based, case‑control study which included 100 psoriasis cases and an equal number of controls. Blood samples were obtained, and DNA was extracted from all the samples by a kit‑based method. To determine the LCE3C_LCE3B‑del genotype, a three‑primer polymerase chain reaction assay was performed.

The genotype for the common LCE3C_LCE3B deletion in 100 psoriasis patients and 100 controls was determined. Among the cases, 17 cases were homozygous for insertion genotype (I/I), 40 cases were heterozygous for insertion/deletion genotype (I/D) and 43 cases were homozygous for deletion genotype (D/D), compared to controls where 20 cases were homozygous for insertion genotype (I/I), 45 cases were heterozygous for insertion/deletion genotype (I/D), and 35 cases were homozygous for deletion genotype (D/D). The del/del frequency was higher among psoriatic patients compared to controls (43% vs. 35%) although the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.507).

We hereby infer that LCE3C_LCE3B deletion does not appear to be associated with the risk of psoriasis in our population.