Study of serum level and immunohistochemical expression of von Willebrand factor in psoriasis

Von Willebrand factor (vWF) is angiogenic, hypercoagulable, and inflammatory marker that increases inflammation and vasculitis and reflects endothelial cells dysfunction. vWF could play a role in psoriasis pathogenesis and prognosis. To assess the serum and immunohistochemical expression of vWF in psoriasis to evaluate its possible role in disease pathogenesis and prognosis. This case-control study included 30 cases of psoriasis vulgaris with different degrees of severity and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Serum level of vWF was measured by ELISA. Immunohistochemical staining of skin biopsies for von Willebrand factor (vVF) antibody was done. Significantly higher vWF serum level in cases (24.3 ± 14.0) vs (15.7 ± 6.85) for controls (p = .002) and significantly higher epidermal expression intensity in patients than in controls (P value = .001). There was also significant difference between cases and control regarding the dermal expression of vWF in inflammatory cells, adenexa, and endothelial cell (P value = .001, 0.065, 0.004, respectively,). Von Willebrand factor could be used as an indicator of the hypercoaguable state which may develop in patients with psoriasis and may serve as a new therapeutic target in psoriasis treatment protocols. Patients with psoriasis especially those with high PASI score are more prone to develop vascular complication. Serum vWF could be used as a better marker for psoriasis severity than PASI which is considered the gold-standard noninvasive assessment but it only measures skin involvement, while psoriasis is considered a systemic disease.