QU teams up with Italian varsity for psoriasis treatment research

A Qatar University research project in collaboration with Biogem University, Italy, is looking into the possibility of evolving a treatment module for psoriasis.Dr Pasquale Vito from Biogem University, is the principal investigator of the project  while Dr Muralitharan Shanmuga Konar from the Laboratory Animal Research  Centre of Qatar University is the co-principal investigator. Dr Kavitha Varadharajan from Qatar University is the research assistant in the project.Psoriasis is a chronic disease and clinically characterised by the presence of red plaques due to the transformation of blood vessels with silver or white scales due to abnormality of keratinocytes (Keratin cells). The disease affects approximately 2-3% of the world population, reports Qatar University Research Magazine.According to Konar, there is no effective cure for psoriasis.“The genome-wide association studies have identified over 20 susceptibility genome locations for psoriasis. Very recently, mutations in certain areas have been shown to cause psoriasis with high penetration,”he explained.“However, over the past decade, a great deal of evidence has established a role for the immune system and its interactive network of leukocytes and cytokines in the pathogenesis of the disease,” he said.He continued:“Our collaborators from Biogem University recently reported the identification and characterisation of two alternative splicing variants of CARMA2. (CARMA proteins are scaffold molecules that belong to the membrane). One of them has been termed CARMA2 short which is the most prominent CARMA form in human keratin cells.”According to Konar, in 30% of the cases, psoriasis is associated with chronic inflammatory psoriatic arthritis, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity, type2 diabetes, depression and reduced quality of life.