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Large study finds link between MS and psoriasis
An association was found between multiple sclerosis (MS) and psoriasis in a large, urban, single-center population in the United States.Why this matters
- Autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease and MS have been reported in patients with psoriasis.
- Findings regarding the link between MS and psoriasis have been conflicting.
Study design
- Authors searched the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse, which contains data for more than 4 million patients, for patients who had a first in-person clinic encounter between January 2001 and December 2014 with a diagnosis of psoriasis and/or MS.
- A control group consisted of people seen during the same period who did not have a diagnosis of psoriasis and/or MS.
- Funding: None.
Key results
- After adjusting for confounding variables of sex, age, psoriatic arthritis, and TNF-α agent exposure, significant association was found between psoriasis and MS (OR, 1.521; P=.04).
Limitations
- It was not possible to verify diagnoses and drug exposure outside of the data.
- Other factors not included in this study, such as genetic aberrations and environmental factors, play a role in the etiology of autoimmune diseases.
