A case of cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome due to somatic mosaic mutation complicated with recurrent circinate erythematous psoriasis

Mod Rheumatol Case Rep. 2023 Nov 30:rxad067. doi: 10.1093/mrcr/rxad067. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Cryopyrin-associated periotic syndrome (CAPS) is a rare autoinflammatory disease (AID) caused by genetic variants in innate immunity genes. AIDs, including CAPS, mediate proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-18 and result in severe systemic inflammation. A gain-of-function mutation in the NLRP3 gene, which encodes the protein cryopyrin, was identified to be responsible for CAPS in 2001, and since then several additional pathogenic mutations have been found. Moreover, other phenotypes have been identified based on severity and symptomatology, including familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome, Muckle-Wells syndrome (MWS), and neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID)/chronic neurologic cutaneous articular syndrome (CINCA). Prompt diagnosis of CAPS remains challenging, however, due to unspecific, extensive clinical signs, and delayed diagnosis and treatment targeting IL-1 lead to multiorgan damage. Another factor complicating diagnosis is the existence of somatic mosaic mutations in the NLRP3 gene in some cases, resulting in symptoms and clinical courses that are atypical. The frequency of somatic mosaic mutations in CAPS was estimated to be 19% in a systematic review. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects about 3% of the global population. Although no reports have shown complication between CAPS and psoriasis, these diseases have several similarities and potential relationships, for instance activation of Th17 cells in the dermis and increased NLRP3 gene expression in psoriatic skin compared with normal skin. Here we report a case of CAPS due to a somatic mosaic mutation with recurrent circinate erythematous psoriasis.

Keywords: Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome; NLRP3; adult-onset; elderly onset; psoriasis.