Psoriasis in Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Patients

Children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) had a higher prevalence of psoriasis than children without T1DM, according to a letter to the editor published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

The letter discusses a study conducted in Italy from 2017 to 2018 to investigate an association between psoriasis and T1DM in children and adolescents. A single dermatologist examined T1DM patients at the Pediatric Diabetes Centre of Padua University for the presence of psoriasis.

Of the 166 patients enrolled in the study, the mean age was 13.59 years, 45% were men, 23% were overweight or obese, the mean age of T1DM onset was 6.32 years, and 16% had a family history of psoriasis.

In total, 8% pediatric patients were affected by psoriasis, a prevalence 4 times higher than of the general Italian pediatric population.

Study limitations include a small cohort and no age- and BMI-matched control group.

Psoriasis diagnoses coincided with, or were subsequent to, T1DM diagnoses, “suggesting a potential role of hyperglycemia in the onset of psoriasis in predisposed patients,” investigators wrote. They pointed to Th17 cells, which are hypothesized to play roles in the pathogenesis of both T1DM and psoriasis, as a possible connection between the 2 diseases.

Reference

Caroppo F, Galderisi A, Moretti C, Ventura L, Fortina AB. Prevalence of psoriasis in a cohort of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. JEADV. Published online April 29, 2021. doi:10.1111/jdv.17318