Association of Helicobacter pylori Infection With the Severity of Psoriasis

Psoriasis is an inflammatory, immune-mediated disease with a multifactorial etiopathogenesis and a wide spectrum of clinical presentation. It has been proposed that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection acts as a possible etiological factor for psoriasis.

Twenty-nine patients diagnosed with psoriasis were included in Group A, and an equal number of non-psoriatic individuals were included in Group B based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Psoriasis severity was assessed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score.

The epidemiological profile showed no significant differences in age or sex between patients and healthy individuals (age p=0.480; sex p=0.597). Among psoriasis patients, 23 (79.3%) had the disease for less than 10 years, and the mean disease duration was 4.76 ± 4.78 years (range: one to 20 years). A significant association was found between H. pylori infection and psoriasis, with nine (31.0%) of psoriasis patients testing positive for H. pylori stool antigen compared to only two (6.9%) in controls (p=0.019).

H. pylori infection has a significant association with the severity of psoriasis. This finding highlights a probable role of bacterial infection in exacerbating immune-mediated skin conditions. Therefore, it can be proposed that psoriasis patients with high PASI scores may be screened for H. pylori infection by a fecal antigen test.