Association of Leukocyte Telomere Length and the Risk of Disease Severity and Metabolic Comorbidities in Arab Patients with Psoriasis.

INTRODUCTION

Several studies have related shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) with age-related diseases and worse prognosis. Telomere length attrition has recently been associated with inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis (Ps). However, no study has demonstrated an association between LTL and the risk of disease severity and metabolic comorbidities in Arab patients with Ps.

METHODS

68 patients with Ps and 42 normal controls were included. LTL and oxidative damage were determined by quantitative (q) PCR. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression. Statistical differences between the groups were determined using χ2 and t tests.

RESULTS

Patients with Ps had significantly shorter LTL (p = 0.032) and higher oxidative damage (p = 0.015) than those without Ps. Patients with moderate-to-severe index (p = 0.03) and metabolic comorbidity showed significantly shorter LTL (p = 0.003) compared to patients with mild index and without metabolic comorbidity, respectively. Patients with short LTL (≤0.9) were correlated with higher risk of moderate-to-severe conditions (OR = 6.98, 95% CI = 2.3-20.8, p = 0.001) and metabolic comorbidities (OR = 2.89, 95% CI = 1.02-8.2, p = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

LTL shortening may be a consequence of increased oxidative damage and is related to the risk of severe Ps and metabolic comorbidities. Therefore, LTL may be a good candidate biomarker for predicting the risk of poor prognosis in patients with Ps.