Hormone Replacement Therapy and Psoriasis Risk: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study

Background@#Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to relieve menopause symptoms, but has been reported to be associated with coronary heart disease and cancers in women.However, a link between HRT and psoriasis has yet to be established. The aim of this study was to determine the association between HRT and the risk of psoriasis. @*Methods@#We executed a nationwide population-based study. A total of 1,130,741 postmenopause women were enrolled in the national health care insurance database based on the enrollment criteria. The study population was classified into four groups based on the duration of the HRT, and the risk of psoriasis was analyzed. @*Results@#The incidence rates of psoriasis per 1,000 person-years were 3.36 and 4.09 in the no history of HRT and ≥ 5 years of HRT, respectively. After adjustment for age, smoking, alcohol intake, regular exercise, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, the most prolonged duration of the HRT group (≥ 5 years) exhibited significantly increased risk of developing psoriasis (hazard ratio, 1.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.16–1.29). @*Conclusion@#We propose that HRT in post-menopausal women is associated with an increased likelihood of psoriasis development.

Improvements in Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis and Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis Receiving Secukinumab: A Retrospective Study / 대한피부과학회지

Background@#Psoriasis is a relapsing inflammatory skin disorder that can affect the nails and joints. Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) occurs in up to 30% of patients with psoriasis, leading to chronic articular pain, and impairing quality of life. Secukinumab is a human monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-17A that has been shown to effectively improve the clinical signs and symptoms of PsA. @*Objective@#To evaluate the effect of secukinumab on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in Korean PsA patients. @*Methods@#We retrospectively investigated the medical records and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) scores of 13 patients with PsA who completed the psoriatic arthritis impact of disease 12-item questionnaire (PsAID-12) before and 3 months after receiving secukinumab treatment between October 2019 and August 2021 in Yeouido St.Mary’s Hospital. @*Results@#At week 12, significant reductions in the total and each item PsAID-12 and mean PASI score were observed (p＜0.01). The mean decrease of total PsAID-12 score was 4.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.74∼5.86), with the greatest improvement observed in the item of ‘embarrassment’ (7.15; 95% CI, 5.59∼8.72). Of the 13 patients, 11 (84.6%) and 5 (38.5%) achieved PASI75 and PASI90 response, respectively. @*Conclusion@#This study showed that secukinumab improves the HRQOL of patients with PsA, implying a positive influence of secukinumab on patients’ physical and mental status in a real-world clinical setting.