Psoriasis and vitiligo: is there a link?

Takeaway

• Meta-analysis suggests a positive association between psoriasis and vitiligo.
• The risk for psoriasis was 3-fold higher in patients with vitiligo and the risk for vitiligo was 2-fold higher in patients with psoriasis.

Why this matters

• Both diseases share common genetic locus and cellular immune pathways, suggesting a potential for overlap in disease management.
• Findings require confirmation in larger studies.

Study design

• Random-effects meta-analysis of 10 case–control/cross-sectional studies (patients with psoriasis, 120,866; patients with vitiligo, 79,907) identified after a search on MEDLINE and EMBASE databases until January 2018.
• Funding: None.

Key results

• Risk of vitiligo in patients with psoriasis was 2-fold higher (7 studies; pooled OR, 2.29, 95% CI 1.56-3.37; P<.00001).
• Risk remained significant in both high- (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.23-4.61; P=.01) and low-quality studies (OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 2.07-2.86; P<.00001).
• Risk for psoriasis in patients with vitiligo was significantly increased (4 studies; pooled OR, 3.43, 95% CI, 1.86-6.33; P<.00001).
• Risk remained significant in high-quality studies (OR, 5.94; 95% CI, 1.26-27.95; P=.02).

Limitations

• Cross-sectional or case–control studies were included.
• Small number of studies.