Does Prolactin Indicate Severity of Psoriasis?

Psoriasis vulgaris is a common chronic and inflammatory disease of skin that its etiology is not completely known. However, it seems that genetic and environmental factors play a role in this disease. In vitro studies show that prolactin as a neurohormone has an etiologic effect on psoriasis. This study aimed to compare serum prolactin levels in psoriatic patients with control group. Prolactin level in serum was measured with ELISA method in 30 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and in 30 healthy persons as control group, which they had been matched with a view to age and sex. Mean serum prolactin level in psoriatic patients was not significantly higher than control group. However, there was statistically significant relation between severity of disease and serum prolactin levels (r= 0.521, p=0.003). Positive relation between severity of psoriasis vulgaris and serum prolactin levels may suggest that prolactin is an index that shows severity of disease.