Gluten unrelated to psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis or atopic dermatitis risk

The dietary intake of gluten does not appear to be a risk factor for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis or atopic dermatitis in women, reports a new study.

Researchers conducted cohort studies including women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II. Food frequency questionnaires were used to assess gluten content of the participants’ diets, while disease outcomes were self-reported, then subsequently validated.

A total of 85,185 women were available for the analysis on psoriasis, 85,324 for psoriatic arthritis and 63,443 for atopic dermatitis. Those with lower gluten intake tended to smoke more, but generally, baseline characteristics were comparable across quintiles of gluten consumption. There were 1,432 incident cases of psoriasis, 262 of psoriatic arthritis and 403 of atopic dermatitis.

Gluten intake did not significant increase the incidence risk of any of the above conditions. For instance, those in the highest vs lowest quintiles of gluten consumption were not significantly more likely to develop psoriasis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.15, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.98–1.36).

The same was true for psoriatic arthritis (HR, 1.12, 95 percent CI, 0.78–1.62) and for atopic dermatitis (HR, 0.91, 95 percent CI, 0.66–1.25). These risk estimates were calculated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for confounders such as smoking and alcohol consumption habits, comorbidities, and calorie consumption, among others.

The findings were robust to analyses stratified according to body mass index and the presence of asthma.