title: Metabolic syndrome in untreated patients with psoriasis: case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies have shown a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with psoriasis compared to controls. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of systemic anti-psoriatic drugs on the metabolic syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between psoriasis and the metabolic syndrome, by comparing untreated patients with psoriasis and population based control.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a hospital-based case-control study that included 122 untreated patients with plaque psoriasis and 122 age- and gender-matched controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome between the patients with psoriasis (24.6 %) and the controls (22.9 %) (OR 1.095, 95 % CI 0.607-1.974). Among the components of the metabolic syndrome only hypertriglyceridemia and abdominal obesity were associated with psoriasis. The psoriatic patients with metabolic syndrome had a higher mean age (p =  0.001), and higher mean BMI (p =  0.001) compared with the psoriatic patients without metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome was not associated with the severity of psoriasis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Untreated patients with psoriasis have no significantly higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome than healthy controls. Our data suggest that systemic antipsoriatic drugs may play an important role in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome.
authors.affiliation: University Clinic of Dermatology, Medical faculty, Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Damevska
authors.forename: Lence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neloska
authors.forename: Gorgi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gocev
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mihova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult