Association between coeliac disease and psoriasis: Italian primary care multicentre study.

BACKGROUND

Studies assessing the association between coeliac disease (CD) and psoriasis show conflicting results.

OBJECTIVE

To assess in the primary care setting the prevalence of CD in patients with psoriasis and the response to a gluten-free diet (GFD) in subjects with psoriasis and CD.

METHODS

We enrolled 218 patients with psoriasis and 264 controls. Coeliac screening was carried out in all subjects (Eurospital, Trieste, Italy). In subjects with a positive serology, the diagnosis of CD was confirmed histologically.

RESULTS

Nine (4.1%) psoriatic patients had positive anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies compared to only 1 among controls (0.4%, p < 0.05; OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.42-90.11). The diagnosis of CD was confirmed histologically in all 10 subjects. At 6 months GFD was associated with a great improvement of skin lesions in 7 out of 8 patients with psoriasis.

CONCLUSION

Our multicentre primary care study showed an high prevalence of CD in psoriasis and an improvement of skin lesions in CD under GFD.