Skin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Skin - Essay Example The main cause of psoriasis is not well understood, however, several scholars believe that psoriasis is caused by defects in the immune system, enzymes as well as other factors that regulate skin cell division. One of the processes involves abnormalities in the immune response that leads to inflammation and increased production of immature skin cells. Genes have been associated to have a significant role in the development of psoriasis, in that research has shown that a group of genes called PSORS 1-8 have been involved in psoriasis. Psoriasis commonly manifests on the skin of the elbow, scalp, and intergluteal clefts among other places (Lowes, Bowcock, & Krueger, 2007). As stated earlier, the pathogenesis of psoriasis is not well understood, however, T cells, that appear to be capable of inducing keratinocytes proliferation has been linked to causing psoriasis. This has been supported by several histological examination and immunohistochemical staining of the psoriatic plaques, which have revealed large population of T cells in the lesions. A study has shown that a patient with 20% body surface area affected by psoriasis has a proximately eight billion blood circulating T cells. The increased T cells lead to deregulated inflammatory process with extensive production of various cytokines like tumor necrosis factor- ÃŽ ±, interferon-gamma and interleukin 12. Several clinical features (raised reddish patches, itchiness and small red spots) of psoriasis are explained by the immense production of these chemical mediators. The key findings in the affected part of the skin include vascular engorgement due to dilatation of the superficial blood vessels as well as altered epidermal cell cycle (Coimbra et al., 2012). A microscopic examination of the skin tissue taken from the affected patches is required to make a definite diagnosis of psoriasis from other