High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Level and Psoriasis Severity in Thai Patients.

BACKGROUND

Psoriasis vulgaris severity have been widely assessed by psoriasis area severity index (PASI) score. However, it may not be not the best measure because of the high variability and inability to tell the other aspect of the disease including co-morbidity and cardiovascular risk.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the correlation between high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) level and psoriasis severity and to determine co-morbidities of psoriasis patients.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: One hundred eighty psoriasis patients and thirty control patients were enrolled in the present cross-sectional study. Fasting venous blood were collected and analyzed for fasting plasma glucose, hemoglobin A1c, lipid profile, and hs-CRP. The psoriasis patients were assessed for skin severity by PASI scoring. The correlation was assessed by regression analysis.

RESULTS

The hs-CRP level was found significantly higher in the psoriasis group (p-value <0.001). The hs-CRP level significantly correlated with PASI score by using multivariate regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

This correlation between hs-CRP level and the psoriasis severity has led to the proposition that hs-CRP be used as a biomarker for overall inflammation including skin severity and cardiovascular risk factor in psoriasis.