Antimicrobial peptides: bridging innate and adaptive immunity in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
Ma. Jing-Yi JY; Shao. Shuai S; Wang. Gang G
Key Findings
- LL-37 and other antimicrobial peptides are strongly up‑regulated in psoriatic skin lesions.
- These peptides act as immune messengers, connecting innate (immediate) and adaptive (long‑term) immunity.
- Their over‑activity may contribute to the chronic inflammation seen in psoriasis.
Practical Outcomes
- For biohackers, the takeaway is that boosting LL-37 (e.g., via supplements) could potentially worsen inflammatory skin conditions, so caution is advised. The review highlights LL-37 as a possible therapeutic target, suggesting that future anti‑inflammatory strategies might aim to modulate its levels rather than simply increase them.
Summary
The paper explains that the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 (and a few others) is found in high amounts in psoriasis skin and can stir up the immune system, linking the body’s first‑line defenses to longer‑term immune responses. This helps explain why psoriasis flares, but it doesn’t give direct tips on how to use LL-37 for health or performance.
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small molecules produced by a myriad of cells and play important roles not only in protecting against infections and sustaining skin barrier homeostasis but also in contributing to immune dysregulation under pathological conditions. Recently, increasing evidence has indicated that AMPs, including cathelicidin (LL-37), human β-defensins, S100 proteins, lipocalin 2, and RNase 7, are highly expressed in psoriatic skin lesions. These peptides broadly regulate immunity by interacting with various immune cells and linking innate and adaptive immune responses during the progression of psoriasis. In this review, we summarize the recent findings regarding AMPs in the pathogenesis of psoriasis with a main focus on their immunomodulatory abilities.
Study Information
pubmed
2020
2020-11-20T00:00:00.000Z
10.1097/cm9.0000000000001240