Clinical characteristics of patients with a family history of psoriasis: an observational epidemiological study in Chinese Han population

Abstract

Introduction: Psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease, is believed to be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Despite this understanding, the clinical epidemiological status of psoriasis patients with a family history of the disease remains uncertain.

Methods: In this study, we participated in a multicenter observational epidemiological study involved over 1,000 hospitals and enrolled a total of 5,927 psoriasis patients. These patients were categorized into two groups based on the presence or absence of a family history of psoriasis: family history cases (896) and sporadic cases (5,031). The clinical manifestations of these two groups were analyzed through clinical classification, comorbidities, treatment response, and other relevant factors.

Results: The findings of our study indicate that individuals with a family history of psoriasis predisposition exhibit a notably elevated prevalence of psoriatic arthritis compared to those with sporadic occurrences. Moreover, patients with a family history of psoriasis display a more rapid and efficacious response to secukinumab. Additionally, individuals with moderate to severe psoriasis are at a heightened risk of developing cardiovascular and liver diseases in comparison to those with mild psoriasis, with no discernible impact of familial history on the likelihood of comorbidities.

Discussion: Our study identified the clinical characteristics of individuals with a familial predisposition to psoriasis, offering novel insights into the management and therapeutic approaches for patients with this condition.

Keywords: biologics; characteristics; comorbidities; family history; psoriasis.

FIGURE 1

The amount of comorbidity cases in each group. The horizontal axis denotes the various comorbidities, while the vertical axis indicates the quantity of patients. (A) Group 1 pertains to patients with a familial history of psoriasis, Group 2 pertains to patients with sporadic psoriasis. (B) Group 3 pertains to patients with mild psoriasis, and Group 4 pertains to patients with moderate to severe psoriasis.