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. 2019 Jan 27;7(2):237-242.
doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2019.060. eCollection 2019 Jan 30.

Efficacy of Adding Oral Simvastatin to Topical Therapy for Treatment of Psoriasis: The Vietnamese Experience

Hao Nguyen Trong  1   2   3 , Thang Nguyen Tat  1 , Tu Tran Nguyen Anh  2 , Nhi Pham Uyen  2 , Thuong Nguyen Van  4 , Khang Tran Hau  4 , Marco Gandolfi  5 , Francesca Satolli  5 , Claudio Feliciani  5 , Michael Tirant  6   7 , Aleksandra Vojvodic  8 , Torello Lotti  6
Affiliations

Efficacy of Adding Oral Simvastatin to Topical Therapy for Treatment of Psoriasis: The Vietnamese Experience

Hao Nguyen Trong et al. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis, the prevalence of which ranges from 2% to 3% of the general population, has been recently recognised as not only a chronic inflammatory skin disorder but also an immunometabolic systemic disease. Dyslipidemia is one of the most important comorbidities of psoriasis. Statins, frequently used as anti-hyperlipidemic agents, may be beneficial in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis, due to their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory characteristics. Hence, we hypothesised that using this medication was not only beneficial for reducing hyperlipidemia but also improving psoriatic conditions.

Aim: We conducted a study to determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in psoriatic patients as well as whether the addition of statins (simvastatin prescribed forms) to standard topical antipsoriatic treatment can improve skin lesions in psoriatic patients.

Methods: A group of 128 psoriatic patients and 128 healthy controls who were matched with the patients regarding ethnicity, age, and sex were enrolled, and their lipid concentrations were determined. Furthermore, sixty patients were randomly selected from the former group and divided into two treatment subgroups to evaluate the effect of statins on the severity of psoriasis using the PASI score.

Results: We found that the rate of dyslipidemia in the patient group was significantly higher than in the healthy group (53.9% versus 21.9%, p < 0.001), particularly the triglyceride concentration (1.86 ± 1.17 versus 1.43 ± 0.79 mg/dL, p < 0.001). Also, the PASI score reduction in the simvastatin-treated subgroup was significantly different from that in the placebo-treated one after eight weeks of therapy (8.63 ± 4.78 versus 5.34 ± 3.59, p < 0.01).

Conclusion: This study showed that simvastatin might play a role in controlling hyperlipidemia and in turn decrease the PASI score in psoriatic patients.

Keywords: Dyslipidemia; Psoriasis; Simvastatin.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of lipid concentration profiles between study groups
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in the lipid profile after 8 weeks of treatment with simvastatin
Figure 3
Figure 3
The rates of patient achievement of PASI75
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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