title: Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Psoriasis Patients and its Relation to Disease Duration: A Hospital Based Case-Control Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies indicate a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in psoriatic patients. This study aimed to investigate the association of metabolic syndrome and its components with psoriasis. It also studied the relation between presence of metabolic syndrome and disease duration in psoriasis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a hospital-based, case-control study conducted with 30 clinically diagnosed patients of chronic plaque psoriasis and 30 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Height, weight, BMI, blood pressure and waist circumference were assessed in all the subjects. Fasting levels of serum glucose, serum triglycerides and serum HDL were estimated by automated clinical chemistry analyser. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed by the presence of at least 3 criteria of NCEP ATP III with Asian modification for waist circumference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Metabolic syndrome was more common in psoriatic patients than in controls but the difference was statistically insignificant (60% vs. 40%, p-value=0.12). The psoriasis group had a higher prevalence of elevated blood glucose levels and higher waist circumference compared to controls. Psoriasis patients had a higher prevalence of high triglyceride levels than controls, the difference being statistically insignificant (40% vs. 30%, p-value = 0.41). The prevalence of low HDL levels was significantly higher in cases compared to controls (86.7% vs. 60%, p-value = 0.02). There was no relation between presence of metabolic syndrome and duration of psoriasis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that metabolic syndrome as well as dyslipidaemia is commoner in psoriasis patients. This underlines the need for screening of all psoriasis patients for early diagnosis and treatment of associated metabolic syndrome to reduce the high burden of morbidity and mortality.
authors.affiliation: Student, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences , Pondicherry, India .
authors.forename: Udayakumar
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Praveenkumar
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences , Pondicherry, India .
authors.forename: Satyaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganguly
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences , Pondicherry, India .
authors.forename: Lopamudra
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences , Pondicherry, India .
authors.forename: Sunil Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nanda
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences , Pondicherry, India .
authors.forename: Sheela
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuruvila
keywords: Fasting glucose; Hypertension; Lipid profile; Waist circumference