Polymorphisms in the CD6-ALCAM axis may modulate psoriasis risk and outcomes.

The fact that CD6, along with its ligand - ALCAM, plays a role in regulating T cell activation makes the genes encoding these molecules promising candidates for research in T cell-mediated diseases such as psoriasis vulgaris (PsV). Our study aimed to determine whether CD6 (rs17824933C>G, rs11230563C>T and rs12360861G>A) and ALCAM (rs6437585C>T, rs11559013G>A) polymorphisms may affect psoriasis susceptibility and severity (assessed by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI)). Moreover, the presence of HLA-C*06:02, the strongest psoriasis risk factor in the Caucasian population, was also investigated. 273 patients diagnosed with psoriasis vulgaris and 256 blood donors with no history of PsV or other dermatoses were included in this study. Genotyping of the investigated polymorphisms was carried out using the allelic discrimination method with the application of TaqMan SNP Genotyping Assays. We observed the association of rs17824933G allele with a higher psoriasis risk in HLA-C*06:02(+) individuals (CG + GG vs CC, OR = 1.87, CI95% = 1.03; 3.37, p = 0.0350). Furthermore, we found a difference in average PASI score among groups of patients divided according to the number of CD6 and ALCAM polymorphic sites with minor alleles (F = 6.159, p = 0.0026). Collectively, our findings suggest that polymorphisms of CD6-ALCAM axis genes may modulate psoriasis risk and outcomes.