Review of the Relationship between Mental Stress and Inflammatory Skin Diseases

Inflammatory skin diseases have a major impact on the psychological state and quality of life of patients, and can lead to an increased burden on the patient's mental state and cause psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. In addition, psychological stress can aggravate the condition of inflammatory skin diseases. Nowadays, the relationship between psychological stress and inflammatory skin diseases has received much attention. Therefore, a review of the relationship between the two is necessary. In this review, we discuss the close relationship between the neurobiological mechanisms of psychological stress and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines induced by brain-gut-skin communication. We also discuss the mechanisms by which psychological stress may exacerbate inflammatory skin diseases through descending pathways (central and peripheral hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes, peripheral nerves, and skin barrier function).