Abstract: Objective: To detect DNA of human papillomavirus (HPV) in psoriatic skin and find out the possible relationship between HPV and psoriasis. Methods: Three groups of consensus primers were used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect HPV DNA in 62 biopsy and 79 scraping specimens from psoriatic lesions and 62 scrapings from non-lesion skin of psoriatic patients. Take both biopsy and scraping specimens of 48 non-psoriatic plastic surgery patients as controls. Results: Epidermodysplasia verruciformis-associated human papillomavirus (EV HPV) DNA was found in 77.4% psoriatic biopsies, versus only 27.1% in the controls (P < 0.005). The detection rates in the scrapings from psoriatic lesions and non-lesions were 51.9% and 48.4%; versus only 18.8% in the controls (P < 0.005). No mucosal type was detected in all the samples. Conclusion: EV HPV DNA was detected more frequently in psoriatic skin than in healthy control.

Key words: Psoriasis, Papillomavirus, Human, polymerase chain reaction