Risk of Diabetes Increased in Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) have a nearly 3-fold greater likelihood of having diabetes mellitus (DM) compared with the general population, according to results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers conducted a systematic literature review of studies conducted between 1947 and June 13, 2017 that reported the prevalence of DM in patients with HS. Ultimately, 14 articles met the selection criteria for qualitative analysis, and of these 7 were eligible for meta-analysis. All of the 14 studies were observational in design; 9 were cross-sectional, 4 were cohort, and 1 was case-control.

Meta-analysis was conducted on studies that reported the prevalence of DM both in patients with HS and in non-HS controls (n=7). The meta-analysis included a pooled study population that comprised a total of 104,373 persons, 28,320 of whom had HS. Of the 28,320 patients with HS, 3016 (10.6%) had DM compared with 2903 (3.8%) patients with DM with no history of HS. Of the 7 studies in the meta-analysis, 6 demonstrated a significantly increased prevalence of DM in patients with HS.

Meta-analysis of DM prevalence in individuals with HS revealed a significant between-study heterogeneity (P <.001). Patients with HS were almost 3 times more likely to have DM than patients without the disorder (pooled odds ratio [OR] 2.78; 95% CI, 1.79-4.31).

The results of the study suggest that clinicians should be mindful of screening and managing DM in patients with HS. Future studies focused on the shared pathogenesis of HS and DM are warranted.

Reference

Bui T-L, Silva-Hirschberg C, Torres J, Armstrong AW. Hidradenitis suppurativa and diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis [published online October 19, 2017]. J Am Acad Dermatol. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2017.08.042