TULIP study - to understand the roles of IL-17A & IL-17F in psoriasis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
To Understand the roles of interleukin (IL) 17A and IL-17F in the pathogenesis of psoriasis (TULIP) study.
IRAS ID
236496
Contact name
Jingyuan Xu
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 6 months, 5 days
Research summary
Psoriasis is a chronic disabling disease affecting nearly 2 million people in the UK, it is characterised by raised, red and scaly patches on the skin. It is not just a skin condition; psoriasis is associated with psoriatic arthritis, and other serious health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. While we do not know what causes psoriasis, we do know that the immune system plays a major part in its development.
The TULIP (To Understand the roles of IL-17A & IL-17F In Psoriasis) study aims to investigate whether Interleukin (IL)-17, a chemical that the immune system produces, is important in psoriasis and a rare variant of psoriasis called pustular psoriasis. Healthy volunteers and patients with psoriasis and/or pustular psoriasis will be invited to take part in the study from dermatology outpatient clinics and established healthy volunteer database.
Small skin samples and blood will be collected from participants to explore the expression of IL-17A and IL-17F and correlate this with:
• Clinical phenotype (i.e. are there differences between subtypes of psoriasis?);
• Disease severity; and
• Treatment response.By understanding the roles of IL-17F and its other family members, which there are 6 in total including IL-17A, it will help us to develop more effective medicines by tailoring to the individual patient. Furthermore, the results are likely to give more valuable information on other diseases where IL-17 is involved.
The TULIP study is a funded PhD project as part of the North West England Medical Research Council Clinical Research Fellowship Scheme in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0632
Date of REC Opinion
27 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion