title: Therapeutic implications of adding the psychotropic drug escitalopram in the treatment of patients suffering from moderate-severe psoriasis and psychiatric comorbidity: a retrospective study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is known that stress and/or psychiatric diseases can play an important role in determining psoriasis, including the well-known negative somato-psychiatric rebound that comes with the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Samples of 38 subjects suffering from both moderate-severe psoriasis treated with anti-TNFα, and depressive and/or anxious mood disorders were studied. Part of them were additionally treated with escitalopram, whereas the other group only consulted to a dermatological and psychiatric follow-up. The aim of this study was to determine if an improvement in the dermatological manifestation as well as an improvement in the anxious-depressive disorder can be observed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study revealed that patients treated with escitalopram had a reduction of psycho-diagnostic test scores that measure depression and anxiety levels as well as the values of pruritus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that psychological interventions and antidepressant medications may improve perceived symptom severity, quality of life and major compliance to the treatment in selected patients (suffering from psoriasis and mood disturbance), without a clinician necessarily being able to see an impact on psoriasis severity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: D'Erme
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zanieri
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Campolmi
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Santosuosso
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Agnoletti
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cossidente
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Critical Care Medicine and Surgery, University of Florence, FlorenceAnatomy Department, University of Florence, FlorenceDISSAL, Section of Dermatology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria San Martino-IST, GenoaChair of Dermatology and Venereology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lotti
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D015283:Citalopram