Research Shows Behçet Disease Could Lead to PsA and PsO

Patients with Behçet disease (BD) may be at an added risk of psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), according to new research.

“While the clinical pictures of these diseases are quite different, they feature some important similarities, most of which may stem from the autoinflammatory components of BD and PsO. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prospective link between BD and cutaneous and articular manifestations of psoriasis,” the authors reported.  

During the study, patients with PsO, BD, and PsA were categorized in cohorts, using the National Health Insurance Service of Korea database. Researchers found patients with a personal history of BD to be nearly 3 times more likely to be diagnosed with PsO, compared to non-BD individuals in the study.

Researchers found an elevated risk of PsO existed within the male BD cohort. Further, individuals aged 65 years and older diagnosed with PsO were 1.5 times more likely to be affected with BD compared with patients younger than 65.

Individuals with BD and a healthy body weight were found to be at a significantly lower risk of PsO. Patients with BD were 2 times more likely to be affected by PsA, and women in the PsA cohort had a higher risk than men of developing BD.

Older patients with BD also experienced a significantly higher risk of PsA than younger patients.

“The current investigation has backed up the long-held speculation about a potential immunological link between BD and PsO with a solid, population-based evidence,” the authors wrote. “Further studies are warranted to elucidate the mechanism behind this disease interaction and apply the insight for better-guided clinical practice,” the authors concluded.

--Angelique Platas

Reference

Hahn, H.J., Kwak, S.G., Kim, DK. et al. Association of Behçet disease with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Sci Rep 2021; 11, 2531. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81972-4