Background: Psoriatic disease (PsD) is closely associated with cardiovascular (CV) disease. The Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score is a new metric to assess CV health (CVH), where a higher score indicates better CVH. However, the longitudinal association between LE8 score and the risk of PsD remains uncertain.
Objectives: To investigate, in a cohort study, the association between LE8 score, genetic susceptibility and the risk of PsD.
Methods: This cohort study included 261 642 participants in the UK Biobank without PsD at baseline. LE8 comprises eight indicators: diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep health, body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose and blood pressure. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between participants' LE8 scores, genetic risk of PsD and the risk of PsD. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
Results: During an average follow-up of 12.3 years, 1501 participants developed PsD. Compared with participants with low LE8 scores, the HRs of developing PsD for those with moderate and high LE8 scores were 0.51 (95% CI 0.43-0.59) and 0.34 (95% CI 0.27-0.42) after adjustments, respectively. Dose-response analysis revealed a linear negative association between continuous LE8 score and the risk of developing PsD (P < 0.001), with no evidence of nonlinear association detected. Genetic susceptibility to PsD did not modify this association (P-interaction = 0.63). Subgroup analyses revealed that women had a more pronounced beneficial association between LE8 scores and PsD risk (P-interaction = 0.02).
Conclusions: Our study suggests that a higher LE8 score, regardless of genetic risk, is associated with a lower risk of PsD, particularly in women. Consequently, maintaining good CVH status is recommended to prevent PsD and assess associated risks.
Psoriatic disease is a widespread condition that has been linked to heart disease. Psoriatic disease affects between 0.1% and 4% of the world’s population. Our study aimed to investigate the association between psoriatic disease and cardiovascular health. We looked at cardiovascular health using a scoring system called ‘Life’s Essential 8’ (or ‘LE8’ for short), the genetic likelihood of a person developing psoriatic disease and their risk of psoriatic disease. We included 261 642 people who had no psoriatic disease. LE8 covers eight areas of health: diet, exercise, smoking/nicotine use, sleep health, body mass index, the levels of fats in the blood, the level of glucose (sugar) in the blood and blood pressure. We used statistical tests to study people’s LE8 scores and their risk of psoriatic disease. Over about 12 years, 1,501 people developed psoriatic disease. People with moderate and high LE8 scores had a lower risk of psoriatic disease. The study found that higher LE8 scores are linked to a lower risk of developing psoriatic disease. This was especially relevant in women, regardless of their genetic risk of developing psoriatic disease. Maintaining good cardiovascular health could help prevent psoriatic disease and its associated risks.
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