Observation on The Formation of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Psoriatic Peripheral Blood

Objective To explore the clinical application value of Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in evaluating psoriasis. Methods 2ml peripheral blood of 63 patients with psoriasis and 27 healthy controls were collected. Neutrophils were isolated by density gradient method, and the formation of NETs was observed by immunofluorescence staining. We then calculated the proportion and fluorescence intensity of NETs and analyzed their correlation with clinical classification, severity, and serological indicators. Furthermore, the skin lesions of 5 patients with psoriasis were collected, and the NETs were observed by immunofluorescence method. Results The proportion and fluorescence intensity of spontaneous NETs in patients with psoriasis were significantly higher than those in healthy controls and were positively correlated with the PASI scores. The generation of NETs in psoriasis patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS) or high-TNF-α was higher than in psoriasis patients without metabolic abnormalities or normal-TNF-α. NETs were also observed in most psoriatic skin specimens. Conclusions The levels of NETs are correlated with the disease severity of psoriasis and patients with metabolic abnormalities and may be used as a clinical indicator to reflect the inflammatory state of psoriasis and metabolic comorbidity of psoriasis for disease evaluation.