Higher Psoriasis Risk for Celiacs, but Not Vice Versa

Celiac.com 01/09/2023 - Psoriasis is one of several skin conditions long associated with celiac disease. Several studies have found connections between psoriasis and celiac disease, but so far no study has shown a causal connection between these two autoimmune conditions. A new study shows that celiac disease patients face a higher risk of psoriasis, but not vice versa. Here's what they found.

Genetic Study

A team of researchers recently set out to explore the causal link between psoriasis and celiac disease with bidirectional 2-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) study. The research team included Lin Li, Lixin Fu, Liwen Zhang & Yanyan Feng. They are affiliated with theDepartment of Dermatology, Chengdu Second People’s Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

The Psoriasis-Celiac Disease Connection

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The team set out to extract eligible instrument variables with genome-wide significance. To do so, the team used data from the published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of the European population. They then performed sensitivity, post-MR, and inverse variance weighted (IVW) analyses.

The MR analyses showed that genetically doubling the odds of celiac disease would increase the risk for psoriasis. Subsequent sensitivity analyses reinforced those results. 

Higher Psoriasis Risk for Celiac Patients

However, the team's data showed that genetically determined psoriasis was not connected with the risk for celiac disease. 

This study offers new genetic evidence that celiac patients face an increased risk of psoriasis, while psoriasis patients face no higher celiac risk. 

For this reason, the team advises clinicians to be aware of the connections, and to closely watch for any psoriasis-associated skin symptoms in celiac patients, or in patients with celiac symptoms.

This study offers another valuable insight into the many connections between celiac disease and the risk of other auto-immune conditions, and perhaps supports the idea that all non-genetically determined psoriasis patients should be screened for celiac disease.

Read more at Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 21508 (2022)