Inflammation is just following (neurological) orders
In this image from Azimi et al, we see how an inflammatory skin disease greatly improves where nerves aren’t working. No nerve supply, no inflammation! 🤯 Or a lot less, anyway. The top photo shows psoriasis in remission after the radial and median nerves were injured by a shoulder dislocation, and the bottom shows how the psoriasis is coming back as the nerves recover.
This is a great demonstration of how much inflammation can be regulated by the nervous system. This is just one of 19 cases Azimi et al. describe showing “near or complete resolution of pre‐existing skin lesions occurred in areas directly or indirectly supplied by a subsequently injured nervous system.” Another example: scleroderma backing off in the aftermath of a stroke.
The effect isn’t universal: in 4 cases, skin inflammation worsened despite the loss of nerve supply, due to unknown variables. “It’s complicated.”
Nevertheless, this is one of those phenomena that gives us a bit of a peak behind the curtain at what’s really going on with a pathology. How many other chronically inflamed tissues work like this to some degree?