The following is a summary of “Resolved Psoriasis with Abundant Oleic Acid in Stratum Corneum Exhibits Lower T-Cell–Driven IL-17 Signature,” published in the November 2023  issue of Dermatology by Mahi, et al.

T cells that start and stay in the skin play a role in psoriasis flare-ups. The tissue-resident memory T cells are CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T cells that produce IL-17 and IL-22. They were created during past flare-ups. Because resident memory T cells need to be able to take in fatty acids to stay in the body and do their job, the makeup of fatty acids on the surface may affect the T-cell groups that are deeper down. 

When biologics were used to treat patients, they used gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine the fatty acid makeup of both healed and unaffected areas. OKT-3 turned on skin T cells in body parts taken from the same places for a mass transcriptomic study (Nanostring). The makeup of fatty acids differed in skin from healthy donors and skin that looked normal on people with psoriasis, but not between skin with lesions and skin that had them healed in patients whose skin had healed and was high in oleic acid.

There was less T-cell–driven IL-17 epidermal transcriptome signature when T cells were activated in skin explants. The activities of the epidermal T cells below were linked to the skin’s fatty makeup. Looking into how custom fatty acids change the behavior of T cells that live on the skin could help eliminate inflammatory skin diseases.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022202X23020675