Antihypertensive drugs up risk of psoriasis

Use of antihypertensive medications is associated with the incidence of psoriasis, reports a study. Beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcium channel blockers (CCBs), and thiazide diuretics result in an increased risk of psoriasis.

“Diverse genetic and/or external factors may induce psoriasis,” the researchers said. “Drug exposure is one such prominent external factor.”

The databases of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched on 8 January 2021 for relevant studies; obtained data were then pooled for meta- and network meta-analyses.

The researchers used fixed or random-effect models to calculate odds ratio (ORs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) to assess the strength of the associations between antihypertensive drugs and psoriasis incidence. They also carried out a Bayesian network meta-analysis.

Thirteen studies with 6,378,116 individuals were included for meta-analysis and eight studies with 5,615,918 participants for network meta-analysis. All antihypertensive drugs significantly correlated with psoriasis incidence.

The pooled ORs in the meta-analysis were 1.67 (95 percent CI, 1.31‒2.13) for ACE inhibitors, 1.40 (95 percent CI, 1.20‒1.63) for beta-blockers, 1.53 (95 percent CI, 1.23‒1.89) for CCBs, and 1.70 (95 percent CI, 1.40‒2.06) for thiazide diuretics.

On network meta-analysis comparing the risks of psoriasis among antihypertensive medications, the ORs were 2.09 (95 percent CI, 1.39‒3.18) for ACE inhibitors, 1.35 (95 percent CI, 0.99‒1.91) for beta-blockers, 1.53 (95 percent CI, 1.07‒2.24) for CCBs, and 1.80 (95 percent CI, 1.23‒2.66) for thiazide diuretics.

“Therefore, antihypertensive drug users should be carefully monitored for psoriasis,” the researchers said.