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Psoriatic arthritis patients experienced less asthma than psoriasis patients

Patients with psoriatic arthritis had less prevalence of asthma and sensitizations to common aeroallergens compared with patients with psoriasis vulgaris and control groups, according to study results.

Researchers examined the prevalence of hay fever, asthma and sensitization to common autoallergens in 168 patients with psoriatic arthritis (PSA) (mean age, 49 years; 60% men), 133 patients with psoriasis vulgaris (PSO) (mean age, 52 years; 53% men) and 147 controls (mean age, 54 years; 44% men). Patient-reported lifetime prevalence of atopic disorders and serum IgE directed against common aeroallergens were used for comparison. Disease Activity Score 28 and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) were used to assess the effect of atopy on arthritis severity.

The PSA group had the lowest percentage of reported asthma (3.6%), compared with controls (9.5%; P=.031) and the PSO cohort (9.8%; P=.028). After adjustment, patients with PSA were approximately 70% less likely to have asthma compared with controls (OR=0.34; 95% CI, 0.13-0.92). When patients with PSA were compared with PSO patients for asthma prevalence, adjusted OR was 0.38 (95% CI, 0.14-1.04). Reported hay fever was less common in the PSA group (7.7%) than in controls (13.6%) and PSO (12.0%) groups, with no statistical significance.

Sensitization to common allergies was 19.7% in the PSA group, compared with 35.4% in the PSO group (P=.003) and 34.0% in controls (P=.004). In the PSA group, sensitization to common aeroallergens significantly reduced HAQ-visual analog scales for pain (beta-coefficient –0.54; 95% CI, –0.84 to –0.25) and patient global score (beta-coefficient –18.4; 95% CI, –28.5 to –8.25).

“Atopy may protect against the development of PSA and diminish its severity,” the researchers said. “This is the first study reporting a reduced prevalence of atopic features in PSA and not PSO. Longitudinal cohort studies are needed to assess the causality of this relationship and fundamental research is needed to explore the underlying immunologic mechanisms.”