Evidence suggests a potential causal link for psoriasis and cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study published online June 29 in Frontiers in Immunology .

Ning Gao, from The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, China, and colleagues used Mendelian randomization (MR) to examine the potential causal relationship between psoriasis and CVD. Genetic instruments from the genome-wide association study of European descent for psoriasis were used to examine the association with CVD. The primary analysis included inverse variance-weighted (IVW) MR analyses.

The researchers found that genetic susceptibility to psoriasis was associated with an increased risk for heart failure, atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, valvular heart disease, and large artery stroke using the fixed-effects IVW method, but no associations were seen for the other two subtypes of ischemic stroke (cardioembolic stroke and small vessel stroke). Weak evidence of horizontal diversity and heterogeneity was seen in a sensitivity analysis ensuring the stability of the results.

"Our study provides evidence for a potential causal association between psoriasis and CVD," the authors write. "Combined with evidence from observational studies, early cardiovascular risk assessment and prevention in patients with psoriasis are of interest, which facilitate the introduction of individual-specific treatments as soon as possible."

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