Psoriasis has been recognized as a familial disease with a polygenic inheritance. A case is reported of a father and four of his seven children with plaque psoriasis localized to the hands. The other three children are not afflicted by psoriasis. All patients developed psoriasis at 5 years of age. Only one member of this family has involvement in an area other than the hands. This case illustrates some of the complexities of the genetics of psoriasis.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
OrtonneJP. Recent developments in the understanding of the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Br J Dermatol1999; 140Suppl 54:1–7.
2.
HenselerTChristophersE. Psoriasis of early and late onset: Characterization of two types of psoriasis vulgaris. J Am Acad Dermatol1985; 13:450–456.
3.
SwanbeckGInerotAMartinssonT. Age at onset and different types of psoriasis. Br J Dermatol1995; 133:768–773.
4.
FarberEMNallMLWatsonW. Natural history of psoriasis in 61 twin pairs. Arch Dermatol1974; 109:207–211.
5.
LomholtG. Psoriasis: Prevalence, Spontaneous Course, and Genetics: A census study on the prevalence of skin diseases on the Faroe Islands.GEC GAD,Copenhagen, Denmark1963.
6.
HellegrenL. Psoriasis. The Prevalence in Sex, Age and Occupational Groups in Total Populations in Sweden. Morphology, Inheritance and Association with Other Skin and Rheumatic Diseases.Almqvist and Wiksell,Stockholm, Sweden1967.
7.
ElderJTNairRPGuoSW. The genetics of psoriasis. Arch Dermatol1994; 130:216–224.
8.
SamuelssonLEnlundFTorinssonA. A genome-wide search for genes predisposing to familial psoriasis by using a stratification approach. Hum Genet1999; 105:523–529.
9.
GottliebABKruegerJG. HLA region genes and immune activation in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Arch Dermatol1991; 126:1083–1086.
10.
ElderJTHenselerTChristophersE. Of genes and antigens: The inheritance of psoriasis. J Invest Dermatol1994; 103:150S–153S.
11.
TraupeHVan GurpPJMHappleR. Psoriasis vulgaris, fetal growth, and genomic imprinting. Am J Med Genet1992; 42:649–654.
12.
JulierCHyerRNDaviesJ. Insulin-IGF2 region on chromosome 11p encodes a gene implicated in HLA-DR4-dependent diabetes susceptibility. Nature1991; 354:155–159.
13.
BurdenADJavedSBaileyM. Genetics of psoriasis: Paternal inheritance and a locus on chromosome 6p. J Invest Dermatol1998; 110:958–960.
