Psoriasis and cardiovascular disorders: association or epiphenomenon? Meta-analysis of observational studies

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease believed to be correlated with numerous cardiovascular risk factors including increased blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol level, diabetes, inactivity, high body mass index (obesity) and dyslipidaemia. The present meta-analysis intends to assess the association between psoriasis and cardiovascular risk factors. Three hundred and fifty articles were primarily screened using NCBI MEDLINE/PubMed and Cochrane library from its inception until June 30, 2018. Of these, 26 observational studies depending upon the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study with 17,672 psoriasis patients and 66,407 non-psoriasis subjects. The psoriasis patients were found to be at significantly increased risk of systolic blood pressure (SBP) [ORs 2.31 (95% CI 1.12, 4.74)], diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [ORs 2.31 (95% CI 1.58, 3.38)], abdominal obesity [ORs 1.90 (95% CI 1.45, 2.50)] and triglycerides [ORs 1.80 (95% CI 1.29, 2.51)] as compared to non-psoriasis subjects. The subgroup analyses of studies based on the continents revealed that psoriasis patients from Middle East are prone to higher risk factors of CVD including increased levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, DBP, SBP, fasting blood sugar, body mass index and decreased HDL levels, whereas psoriasis patients from European population reported increased LDL-C and waist circumference. The present study supports a significant association between psoriasis and incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events. Contrary to the previous literature, our finding suggests that hypertension is a highly associative condition in psoriasis. The findings of this study could be validated amongst well-defined cohorts of patients with psoriasis individually in different regions to confirm the implication of the study.