A new article published in Nutrients stated that psoriasis – a common, chronic, hyperproliferative, inflammatory skin disease, occurs in most ethnic groups in the world. This disease can be hereditary, at the same time, psoriatic lesions may be triggered by certain prooxidative external factors – like the use of narcotics, smoking, drinking alcohol, physical and mental stress, as well as bacterial infections and injury. Since the main physiological marker of psoriasis relates to disorders in the organism’s antioxidative system, it is necessary to develop a well-balanced combination of pharmaceuticals and dietary antioxidants to facilitate the effective treatment and/or prevention of the disease.

The authors stated that the dietary sources of antioxidants must be adequate for chronic use regardless of the patient’s age, and must be easily available—for example, as ingredients of regular food or dietary supplements. Diet manipulation is a promising therapeutic approach in the context of modulating the incidence of chronic diseases. Another potentially viable method is the use of nutrigenomics, which guarantees a multi-aspectual approach to these conditions – including,analyses of the genetic profiles of psoriasis patients with the view to more accurately targeting key problems.

This article also elaborated the significance of redox equilibrium in the context of psoriasis. Based on information published in worldwide literature over the last decade, impact of dietary exogenous antioxidants on the course of this chronic disease was analyzed. It was suggested that one should first consider whether oxidative stress is a cause or aneffect of psoriasis. The emergence of disease symptoms under conditions of oxidative stress and the clear improvement of the redox status in patients receiving exogenous antioxidants, as well as the observable improvement of their general condition seem to suggest that oxidative stress may indeed be a cause of psoriasis.

However, only some exogenous antioxidants prove effective despite the improvement, in terms of redox status—indicating that oxidative stress may be a consequence of the disease. In order to inactivate free radicals and stabilize cellular membranes, as well as to prevent further damage to the epidermis, one should consider prophylactic consumption of antioxidants, by genetically burdened individuals, and using the same to complement traditional therapy if the disease occurs. It is also worth considering certain lifestyle changes in the case of psoriasis patients, as research suggests that unhygienic habits – such as, drug use, smoking and alcohol use, tend to increase the production of ROS and exacerbate the symptoms of psoriasis.

Effective improvement of antioxidative parameters tends to be more viable with the use of a mixture of antioxidants as their respective effects will complement each other. Hence, it is necessary to develop a combination of pharmacological treatment and dietary antioxidant supplementation for psoriasis patients that would yield optimum results in the context of treatment and prevention. Promising results have also been reported with nutrigenomics, which guarantees a multi-aspect approach to the chronic conditions like psoriasis.

Source: Nutrients.2020 Jun 20;12(6):1841. doi: 10.3390/nu12061841.