Risk factors of coronary artery disease in affected patients with and without psoriasis: The first case-control study in the literature

Abstract

Since metabolic abnormalities are common in psoriasis, some investigators have suggested that the risk of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) may be increased in psoriatic patients. The underlying causes of this connection, however, have not been examined. This study sought to investigate common risk factors of CAD in patients with psoriasis. In a retrospective, case-control setting, profiles of 89 patients with angiographically proven CAD were reviewed. These patients were 47 cases with psoriasis and 42 controls without psoriasis. Demographic data, overweight/obesity, family history of CAD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, increased level of serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglyceride and decreased serum level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were outcome variables which were compared between the two groups. The case group was consisted of 33 males and 14 females with a mean age of 51.04آ±8.79 years. The controls were 29 males and 13 females with a mean age of 57.00آ±9.37 years. Patients in the case group were significantly younger (p = 0.003). Increased serum LDL (59.6 vs. 38.1%, p = 0.04) and increased serum triglyceride (66 vs. 31%, p = 0.001) were significantly higher in psoriatic patients than in controls. These differences, as well as for age, remained significant after logistic regression analysis. The two groups were comparable in terms of sex (p = 0.91), overweight/obesity (p = 0.54), family history of CAD (p = 0.86), hypertension (p = 0.42), diabetes mellitus (p=0.97), smoking (p=0.28) and decreased serum level of HDL (p = 0.65). In conclusion, this study showed that patients with both CAD and psoriasis are younger than those with CAD only. Abnormal lipid profile is probably an underlying cause of the increased risk of CAD in psoriasis.