The prevalence of alexithymia in psoriasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Psoriatic arthritis with psychological comorbidities: an overview of systematic reviews on incidence, prevalence, and geographic disparities

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis evaluating the prevalence, incidence, and psychological comorbidities of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are increasing, so it's time to perform an overview of systematic reviews. To summarize the pooled prevalence, incidence, and psychological comorbidities rates of PsA, and to explore possible continent disparities. In this overview of systematic reviews the CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and PubMed were searched to October 25, 2023. This overview included systematic reviews with meta-analysis of people with PsA, providing the pooled prevalence or incidence rates of PsA in general, or clinical populations and/or psychological comorbidities. The Preferred Reporting Items for Overviews of Reviews (PRIOR) statement was followed. AMSTAR-2 assessed the quality of reviews. The degree of overlap was calculated using the corrected covered area (CCA). Maps were developed using the location of where primary studies were conducted using DataWrapper App. The protocol was prospectively registered with Open Science Framework registry. Pooled prevalence and incidence rates of PsA or its associated psychological comorbidities in general or specific populations. We also collected locations from the primary studies of the included meta-analyses. Only the assessment of prevalence rates of PsA in people with psoriasis showed slight overlap (CCA = 3.3%). Items 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 13 were poorly reported in AMSTAR-2. The pooled prevalence of PsA ranged from 0.13 to 0.15% in the general population, and 15.5% to 19.7% in people with psoriasis. The pooled incidence of PsA ranged from 8.26 to 9.27 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 0.87 cases in individuals with hidradenitis suppurativa. The pooled prevalence of psychological comorbidities was 11.9-20% for depression, 19-33% anxiety, 38% alexithymia, and 72.9% in poor sleep quality. Only the pooled incidence of depression was assessed with 21.3 per 1000-person year. PsA seems to be prevalent and incident not only in people with psoriasis, but also in general population. Depression and anxiety symptoms may be present in some patients with PsA. Finally, continent disparities exist, and methodological and clinical issues were found, which could be helpful in the future agenda of the epidemiology of PsA.

Single-Cell Sequencing Combined with Transcriptome Sequencing to Explore the Molecular Mechanisms Related to Psoriasis

Background

Psoriasis, a chronic and recurrent inflammatory skin disease, current treatments can only alleviate its symptoms. There is still no complete cure. Although increasing research supports the therapeutics to be better, the common mechanism of its occurrence is still not fully elucidated. Our study is about further explore the molecular mechanism of the occurrence of this disease.

Methods

The gene expression profiles of psoriasis (GSE151177, GSE41664, GSE30999) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. After identifying the common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of psoriasis using R software, three kinds of analyses were performed, namely WGCNA, GWAS Analysis, Drug Target Prediction.

Results

A total of 14 common DEGs was selected for subsequent analyses. Our Drug Target Prediction analysis revealed that the expression profiles influenced by certain drugs, including methotrexate, budesonide, amino purvalanol-a, and selumetinib, exhibited negative correlations with the disease-perturbed expression profiles. Finally, It was found that S100A4, JAML, TRAF3IP3, MIAT, IL7R, and KLRB1 were prominently expressed in the immune pathway related to allograft rejection. In the metabolic pathway, oxidative phosphorylation showed high expression levels, while the reactive oxygen species pathway was notably expressed in the signaling pathways domain.

Conclusion

Our study reveals the potential drugs and pathogenesis of psoriasis. These potential pathway and hub genes may provide new ideas for further mechanism research.

Research trends and hotspots in biologics for plaque psoriasis: A bibliometric study from 2004 to 2023

Background and objective

Biologics have revolutionized the management of plaque psoriasis and are flourishing. We aimed to construct a knowledge structure in this field through bibliometrics, analyze research trends and cutting-edge hotspots to inspire future research directions, and provide valuable references for clinical decisions.

Methods

Publications on biologics for plaque psoriasis in the Web of Science database core collection from 2004 to 2023 were searched. Bibliometric analysis and scientific knowledge mapping were performed with R, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer software.

Results

2,672 articles written by 9,474 authors from 67 countries were included in the study. The number of annual publications has steadily increased over the last 20 years. The most prolific countries, institutions, and authors were the United States, Novartis, and Prof. Reick K., respectively. Reference analysis categorized the research base of the field into 10 main clusters. "Efficacy" and "safety" were the most frequent keywords, and cluster analysis categorized the research in this area into four groups. Burst detection captured current hot keywords including interleukin (IL)-17 inhibitors, IL-23 inhibitors, "drug survival," "discontinuation," "Covid-19," "real-world," and "clinical features."

Conclusion

Global publications on biologics research in plaque psoriasis have grown steadily and rapidly over the past two decades. Efficacy and safety are the highest topics of concern for researchers, and IL-17 inhibitors, IL-23 inhibitors, real-world studies, efficacy prediction, and retreatment after biologics failure or discontinuation are current research hotspots.

Impact of Attachment Style and Temperament Traits on the Quality of Life of Patients with Psoriasis

BACKGROUND

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with manifestations that go beyond the visual manifestation, and include psychological aspects. Some mental disorders or personality traits in psoriasis patients have also been highlighted, such as a negative or problematic attitude towards life, impulsive or avoidant behavior, and lower satisfaction with life. The aim of our cross-sectional study was to explore the associations between adult attachment, temperament, and quality of life of patients with psoriasis.

METHODS

A sample of 75 patients with psoriasis was evaluated with the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) to study adult attachment, the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, and San Diego Auto-questionnaire (TEMPS-A) to study temperament traits, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) to study the impact of dermatological diseases on patients' lives.

RESULTS

Depressive, cyclothymic, and irritable temperaments were found to be significantly positively associated with a need for approval and preoccupation with relationships subscales of the ASQ. The severity of skin disease effect on the patient's life was higher in women than in men. Moreover, a statistically significant effect of the need for approval subscale of the ASQ was found. The positive correlation between the severity of skin disease effect on the patient's life with a need for approval was statistically significant and stronger in women than in men.

CONCLUSIONS

A better understanding of the impact of mental comorbidities on psoriasis and vice versa places an ever-greater responsibility on dermatologists involved in the management of psoriasis to recognize these problems and collaborate with psychologists and psychiatrists to help these patients.

Alexithymia and asthma: a systematic review

Growing evidence from scientific research elucidates the important role of alexithymia in chronic immune diseases. This Review aims to explore the presence of alexithymia in patients affected by asthma and clarify its associations with other involved psychological and physical factors. In January 2023, according to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search using PubMed and Scopus was conducted. Twenty-six studies were eligible based on inclusion criteria. Alexithymia was significantly present in asthma patients, with most studies reporting a higher prevalence (from 9 to 62.8%) than in control groups (approximately 10%). The coexistence of asthma and alexithymia was associated with a worse quality of life, psychiatric comorbidity, poor symptom control, and difficulty in recognizing exacerbations of the disease. These results suggest that alexithymia can negatively impact the management of asthma. For this reason, we recommend an accuracy assessment in clinical settings and the implementation of psychological interventions to promote the emotional and physical wellbeing of asthmatic patients.

Factors associated with worsened clinical symptoms of psoriasis and disease-related quality of life during the COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-sectional study

Objective

In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to evaluate the factors associated with psoriasis symptom worsening and impaired quality of life (QoL) in individuals with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Methods

During the second COVID-19 national lockdown (January-April 2021) in Lithuania, individuals diagnosed with psoriasis were invited to fill in an anonymous online survey including sociodemographic and life-style factors, psoriasis-related clinical symptoms, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Patients' Health Questionnaire (PHQ).

Results

A total of 297 respondents completed the survey. The majority of them (52.5%) reported worsened clinical symptoms of psoriasis during the COVID-19 lockdown period. In total, 43.1% of responders reported significant depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) and 23.6% reported impaired disease-related QoL (DLQI > 10). The strongest predictor of psoriasis symptoms worsening was the need for changes in psoriasis treatment, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.73 (95% CI 1.37-5.44, p = 0.004) and decreased income (OR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.30-4.17, p = 0.004). The strongest predictor of impaired QoL was male sex (OR = 3.35, 95% CI 1.70-6.59, p < 0.001). Contribution of specific depressive symptoms was evident for both models.

Conclusion

Worsening of psoriasis symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown was associated with decreased income, psoriasis treatment changes and depression symptoms. Impaired QoL was associated with male sex, symptom worsening and depression. Specific depression symptoms may have contributed to more symptom worsening and impaired QoL than the depressive symptomatology as a whole.