title: Rational for statin use in psoriatic patients.
abstract: Psoriasis represents a common skin disease which is clinically manifested by chronic cutaneous lesions. It has been observed that psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, which is contributed to the inappropriate lipid metabolism. Statins are commonly used in clinical practice to lower cholesterol concentration and, accordingly, decrease the individual risk of developing a cardiovascular episode. There have been reports that statin administration could also result in better management of psoriasis. The observed beneficial effects are contributed to the effects on lipid metabolism, including that in skin, as well as anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of statins. Simvastatin and atorvastatin were found to improve the clinical outcome in patients with psoriatic skin lesions. Clinically, the effectiveness of this novel treatment was confirmed by the significant reduction in PASI score. To date several cases have been reported in which atorvastatin or pravastatin worsened psoriasis. Based on these results, it seems that statins represent a promising class of medications which could be extensively used in psoriasis.
authors.affiliation: Chair and Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mosiewicz
authors.forename: Aldona
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pietrzak
authors.forename: Grażyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chodorowska
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trojnar
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szepietowski
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Reich
authors.forename: Manfredi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rizzo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003879:Dermatologic Agents; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors