Autophagy dysregulation is involved in many diseases. The implication of autophagy in psoriasis pathogenesis is still uncertain. To investigate the role of Light Chain 3 (LC3), a good marker for autophagy, in psoriatic skin based on immunohistochemical study and correlate its expression - for the first time to the best of our knowledge - to clinicopathological data Prospective case-control study was conducted on 60 subjects (30 control, 30 psoriasis patients). Skin biopsies from control, lesional, and perilesional skin were processed for routine histopathological examination and LC3 immunoreaction assessment. There was a significant upregulation of the epidermal and dermal LC3 immunoreaction in the lesional skin compared with the control and perilesional skin specimens (P < .001). A significant positive correlation between the epidermal and dermal LC3 H scores in the lesional and perilesional skin was recorded. There was a non-significant relationship between the H score in the lesional skin and disease severity. LC3 could be considered in psoriasis pathogenesis; however, LC3 was not related to the severity of the disease. The findings might offer a novel target therapy for psoriasis patients.
Keywords: LC3; Psoriasis; autophagy; immunohistochemistry; skin.