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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2005;294:1890.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Psoriasis researchers have long debated whether the condition begins as an immune system disorder that induces skin lesions or as a skin disease that has immunological effects. Now, findings from a study by researchers from Germany, France, and Austria suggest that psoriasis begins with changes in the skin that subsequently trigger involvement of the immune system (Zenz et al. Nature. 2005;437:369-375).

Research suggests that psoriasis is a skin disorder with immunological effects rather than an immunological disease that affects skin. (Photo credit: Image from Arch Dermatol. 1999;135:187-192)

After discovering that skin cells in psoriatic lesions in humans have reduced expression of JunB, a gene known to regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, stress response, and cytokine expression in various organs, the researchers induced psoriasislike skin lesions and arthritis in mice lacking JunB and a related gene, c-jun. To probe the role of the immune system in . . . [Full Text of this Article]