Heredity and Psoriasis

Abstract

The mode of inheritance of psoriasis in a large North Carolina kindred proved to be that of simple autosomal dominance with penetrance reduced to about 60%. No association was found between serum levels of uric acid and cholesterol and the occurrence of psoriasis in this kindred. The incidence of arthritis was 2.7% in the kindred, and there was no greater incidence among the psoriatic members of this kindred than the nonpsoriatic members. Rheumatoid factor was not detected in either the arthritic or nonarthritic members of this kindred by the latex agglutination technique. It is suggested that mutation at more than one locus and/or multiple alleles at the "psoriasis" locus may account for the conflicting reports concerning the inheritance of psoriasis.