Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Share by Email
Print
Increased gluten intake does not put adult women at increased risk for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis, according to study results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
The researchers investigated associations between gluten intake and the development of new psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis in adult women. A cohort study of women nurses in the United States (n=116,430; age 25 to 42 years) known as the Nurses’ Health Study 2 (NHS2) was used. The study began in 1989 and continued to 2015. NHS2 participants completed a baseline survey and follow-up surveys biennially. Information on food intake was collected every 4 years and average intake of specific items was used to approximate daily gluten consumption, which was compared with disease outcomes using Cox proportional hazard models to analyze associations between gluten intake and psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis. All disease outcomes were self-reported and validated.
The researchers found no association between increased gluten intake and the risk of developing psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis (P >.05). Hazard ratios with 95% CIs calculated for the three diseases were 1.15 (0.98-1.36) for psoriasis, 1.12 (0.78-1.62) for psoriatic arthritis, and 0.91 (0.66-1.25) for atopic dermatitis. When looking at comorbidities in the NHS2 cohort, the researchers found that in patients with asthma there was a lowered risk for atopic dermatitis associated with gluten intake in comparison with patients without asthma (P =.09 vs P =.74).
Study limitations include the inability to assess diets with no gluten intake and the impact of gluten intake on the severity of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis. Further, the study investigators mention that the results may not be generalizable to other populations.
Due to there being no association between increased gluten intake and risk for incident psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis, the researchers concluded that their “findings do not support dietary restriction of gluten intake as a means of preventing these inflammatory skin and musculoskeletal conditions.”
Disclosures: This clinical trial was supported by Regeneron and Sanofi. Several study authors declared affiliations with the pharmaceutical industry. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.
Reference
Drucker AM, Qureshi AA, Thompson JM, Li T, Cho E. Gluten intake and risk of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and atopic dermatitis among US women [published online August 9, 2019]. J Am Acad Dermatol. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2019.08.007
