WEDNESDAY, Nov. 12, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with psoriasis, antibiotic exposure is associated with an increased risk for biologic discontinuation, according to a study published online Nov. 12 in JAMA Dermatology.

Raphaël Ouakrat, M.D., from the Université Paris-Est Créteil in France, and colleagues examined the association between antibiotic exposure and persistence of biologic therapies in patients with psoriasis in a retrospective cohort study. Adults initiating a biologic therapy for psoriasis were identified using data from the French National Health Insurance database between June 2011 and December 2022.

A total of 36,129 patients were included: 25.9 percent were exposed to antibiotics at baseline and 60.6 percent were exposed during follow-up. The researchers found that β-lactams, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones were the most commonly prescribed antibiotic classes. There was an association seen for antibiotic exposure with a higher risk for biologic discontinuation (weighted hazard ratio, 1.12), with a stronger effect for multiple dispensations (weighted hazard ratio, 1.29), indicating a dose-response relationship.

"Clinically, these findings underscore the importance of careful antibiotic prescribing in patients receiving biologics," the authors write. "While causality is unproven, minimizing unnecessary antibiotic exposure may support better treatment persistence."

Two authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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