High Sensitivity C - Reactive Protein in Psoriasis: A Marker of Disease Severity and Cardiovascular Risk.

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease in which many factors play a role in its initiation. Recently, psoriasis has been considered a systemic disease associated with many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). High sensitivity C - reactive protein (Hs-CRP) is an important inflammatory marker to predict cardiovascular diseases and it has significant importance in psoriasis because of its close relation with skin inflammation. The study aimed to evaluate the role of Hs-CRP as a marker of disease severity and cardiovascular risk factor in patients with psoriasis.

Material and Methods: 110 patients were enrolled in this study and were divided into two groups, 55 patients diagnosed as having psoriasis (group I) and 55 age and sex-matched healthy controls (group II). Psoriasis patients with Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) less than 10 are considered as mild psoriasis and PASI greater than 10 considered as moderate to severe psoriasis. Hs-CRP levels were detected in the studied population.

Results: A significant correlation between hs-CRP and PASI was found (p < 0.0001). The mean value of hs-CRP in PASI<10 (mild psoriasis) was 0.8 mg/L± 0.42while the mean value of hs-CRP with PASI >10 (moderate to severe psoriasis) was 6.96 ± 4.18 mg/L.

Conclusion: Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis have higher mean serum hs-CRP level than patients with mild psoriasis and controls. Serum hs-CRP level correlates significantly with the PASI and can be used as a marker for assessing disease severity and subsequently to predict CVDs.