A study published Online First in JAMA’s journal Archives of Dermatology reveals that using tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors for treating psoriasis is linked to a considerably lower risk for heart attacks or myocardial infarction compared to other forms of treatment.
Background information in the article states:
“The effect of systemic treatment for psoriasis on cardiovascular disease has been largely unexplored. The primary objective of this study was to assess whether patients with psoriasis treated with TNF inhibitors have a decreased risk of MI [myocardial infarction] compared with those not treated with TNF inhibitors (i.e., those who received oral agents/phototherapy or topical agents).”
Jashin J. Wu, M.D., of the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center and his team performed a retrospective study of patients with at least three ICD-9-CM codes for psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, without antecedent MI, between January 2004 and November 2010. The study included 8,845 patients in total. 5,075 or 57.4% of these patients had no treatment with any systemic therapy or phototherapy (topical treatment group), whilst 1,673 patients or 18.9% received a TNF inhibitor for at least two consecutive months (TNF treatment group), and 2,097 patients or 23.7% were treated with oral systemic agents or phototherapy (oral/phototherapy treatment group).
The team discovered after adjusting for other MI risk factors that those in the TNF inhibitor treatment group (50%) and the oral/phototherapy treatment group (46%) had a considerably reduced risk of MI compared with those in the topical treatment group. They noted the variations in risk between the TNF inhibitor group and oral/phototherapy group were not of statistic importance and conclude: “Future prospective studies are needed and warranted to determine whether the use of TNF inhibitors may reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with systemic inflammatory conditions.”
Written by Petra Rattue