Isolated nail psoriasis (NP) is not significantly associated with an increased risk for metabolic syndrome, according to a letter to the editor recently published in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology & Venereology.

Rhiannon C. Miller and Shari R. Lipner, M.D., Ph.D., both from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, examined the risk for metabolic syndrome in patients with isolated NP. The analysis included 156 patients with a diagnosis code for isolated NP (2010 through 2021) and matched controls.

The researchers found no difference between NP patients and controls for average body mass index and systolic blood pressure, for either closest to diagnosis or highest value recorded. The groups were also similar in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome components (hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein, elevated hemoglobin A1c) or related medical conditions, including hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. All cholesterol values were similar. For hemoglobin A1c, NP patients had greater closest recorded value, but not highest recorded value.

"Isolated NP patients can be counseled that they are not at significantly higher risk for metabolic syndrome, which may help decrease patient anxiety and health care costs associated with additional monitoring," the authors write.

More information: Rhiannon C. Miller et al, No Association of Metabolic Syndrome with isolated nail psoriasis in a retrospective single‐centre academic study, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (2022). DOI: 10.1111/jdv.18611

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