Assessment of efficacy and safety of UV-based therapy for psoriasis: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have proven that ultraviolet (UV)-based phototherapy, including UVB or psoralen UVA (PUVA), and their combination therapies, is effective for psoriasis treatment. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy and adverse events (AEs) of different UV-based phototherapy in psoriasis. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Embase were systematically searched. A random-effect model network meta-analysis with frequentist framework was performed, and results were reported as risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CI. The main variable for assessing effectiveness and safety are PASI 75 response and withdrawal due to AEs. Ranking effects were calculated by surface under the cumulative ranking analysis (SUCRA). RESULTS: Thirty-two studies involving a total of 2120 psoriasis patients were included in this network meta-analysis. Overall, no significant difference was reported with respect to withdrawal due to AEs or incidence of erythema. The relatively safest strategy was combined adjuvant therapy with PUVA (cPUVA), especially PUVA combined with calcium/vitamin D derivatives (RR 0.98, 95% CI [0.30-3.17], SUCRA = 80.8%). Both cPUVA (RR 1.39, 95% CI [1.00- 1.94]) and combined adjuvant therapy with UVB (cUVB) (RR 1.27, 95% CI [1.03-1.57]) showed a superior effect than the monotherapy of UVA or UVB, respectively. PUVA combined with vitamin D and its derivatives (PAVD) ranked highest concerning clinical effect and safety (clusterank value = 7393.2). CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy of all the combination therapy regimens was significantly superior to that of UV monotherapy, without significant differences in tolerability and safety. cUVB and cPUVA, and particularly the combination of UVA with calcium/vitamin D derivatives, was ranked as the overall safest and most effective phototherapy method.

Association of Serum Vitamin D With Psoriasis and Effect Modification by Central Obesity.

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic recurrent inflammatory disease involving many common mechanisms associated with obesity, such as systemic inflammation and vitamin D deficiency. This study aimed to examine the association of the serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with psoriasis and the effect modification by obesity among the affected patients. Methods: A mixed cross-section study was conducted. We consecutively included untreated psoriasis patients from the outpatients who visited the Department of Dermatology of Xiangya Hospital and recruited 205 gender-matched healthy controls from the Hunan Civil Servant Cohort. In both groups, we measured the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, body mass index (BMI), waist-hip-ratio (WHR) and other psoriasis-related clinical indicators. Results: A total of 203 psoriasis outpatients and 205 gender-matched cohort participants with complete data of serum vitamin D concentration were included in the analysis. The serum vitamin D levels of the two groups were close to each other, while the mean WHR of the psoriasis outpatients was significantly higher. Compared with the controls, the risk of psoriasis increased significantly when the vitamin D level decreased from 20 to 10 nmol/L. A significant interaction between the serum vitamin D level and the obesity category (BMI × WHR) was identified. After stratification by WHR, vitamin D was not associated with psoriasis in subjects with normal WHR. In contrast, the association between vitamin D deficiency and psoriasis retained and the effect size augmented in patients with central obesity. Conclusions: WHR may modify the association between serum vitamin D and psoriasis. Treatment advocating Vitamin D supplements may tailor to psoriasis patients with metabolic disorders.

RIPK1: A rising star in inflammatory and neoplastic skin diseases.

Skin diseases bring great psychological and physical impacts on patients, however, a considerable number of skin diseases still lack effective treatments, such as psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus, melanoma and so on. Receptor-interacting serine threonine kinase 1 (RIPK1) plays an important role in cell death, especially necroptosis, associated with inflammation and tumor. As many molecules modulate the ubiquitination of RIPK1, disruption of this checkpoint can lead to skin diseases, which can be ameliorated by RIPK1 inhibitors. This review will focus on the molecular mechanism of RIPK1 activation in inflammation as well as the current knowledges on the contribution of RIPK1 in skin diseases.