Association between coeliac disease and psoriasis: Italian primary care multicentre study

Abstract

Background: Studies assessing the association between coeliac disease (CD) and psoriasis show conflicting results.

Objective: To assess in the primary care setting the prevalence of CD in patients with psoriasis and the response to a gluten-free diet (GFD) in subjects with psoriasis and CD.

Methods: We enrolled 218 patients with psoriasis and 264 controls. Coeliac screening was carried out in all subjects (Eurospital, Trieste, Italy). In subjects with a positive serology, the diagnosis of CD was confirmed histologically.

Results: Nine (4.1%) psoriatic patients had positive anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies compared to only 1 among controls (0.4%, p < 0.05; OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.42-90.11). The diagnosis of CD was confirmed histologically in all 10 subjects. At 6 months GFD was associated with a great improvement of skin lesions in 7 out of 8 patients with psoriasis.

Conclusion: Our multicentre primary care study showed an high prevalence of CD in psoriasis and an improvement of skin lesions in CD under GFD.