NEW DELHI New Delhi: People suffering from psoriasis – a skin disease – often have invisible inflammation in the small intestine, increasing the tendency to have 'leaky gut', according to a research conducted on Monday. The team from Uppsala University in Sweden said that gut inflammation may explain why psoriasis patients often have gastrointestinal problems and are at higher risk of developing Crohn's disease.

Psoriasis is a hereditary, chronic skin condition, which can also result in inflammation of the joints. Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly Crohn's disease, is more common in psoriasis patients than in the rest of the population. The small study included 18 psoriasis patients and 15 healthy controls as subjects. None of the participants were diagnosed with gastrointestinal diseases. Samples were taken from both his small and large intestines. The researchers then studied different types of immune cells in the mucous membrane. They found that people with psoriasis had higher numbers of certain types of immune cells in the small intestine. Researcher Maria Lampinen of Uppsala University said these cells “also showed signs of pro-inflammatory activity”.

“Interestingly, we found the same types of immune cells in the skin inflammation of psoriasis patients, suggesting that skin inflammation may have an impact on the gut, or vice versa,” he said. These findings are published in the journal Biochemica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) – Molecular Basis of Disease.

Normally, the intestinal mucosa acts as a protective barrier that allows nutrients and even water to pass through it. In some autoimmune diseases, the intestinal barrier can function poorly – leaky gut – causing bacteria and harmful substances to leak through the intestinal barrier and cause inflammation. When these substances spread through the bloodstream it becomes more Can also cause widespread swelling. Half of the psoriasis patients in the study had increased intestinal barrier permeability or leaky gut. These patients also reported more gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain and bloating, compared to patients with normal intestinal obstruction.