Phan C, et al. - Researchers evaluated if a score that reflects the adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MEDI-LITE) was correlated to onset and/or severity of psoriasis. Low levels of adherence to the Mediterranean diet were seen in patients with severe psoriasis. The presumption that the Mediterranean diet may slow the progression of psoriasis was supported in the findings.

Methods

• In May 2009, an ongoing, observational, web-based questionnaire cohort study (The NutriNet-Santé program) was launched in France.
• Experts conducted the present study within the framework of the NutriNet-Santé program, with data collected and analyzed between April 2017 and June 2017.
• They identified the patients with psoriasis via a validated online self-completed questionnaire, and then categorized as severe psoriasis, nonsevere psoriasis, or psoriasis-free.
• During the first 2 years of participation in the cohort, data on dietary intake (including alcohol) were gathered to calculate the MEDI-LITE score (ranging from 0 for no adherence to 18 for maximum adherence).
• They also recorded potentially confounding variables (eg, age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, tobacco use, and a history of cardiovascular disease).
• In order to estimate the risk of having severe psoriasis or nonsevere psoriasis vs being psoriasis-free, analyses used adjusted multinomial logistic regression.

Results

• As per data, out of the 158,361 total NutriNet-Santé participants, 35,735 (23%) replied to the psoriasis questionnaire.
• Findings suggested the mean (SD) age of the respondents to be 47.5 (14.0) years; 27,220 (76%) of the respondents were women.
• Out of these 35,735 respondents, psoriasis was reported in 3,557 (10%) individuals.
• In 878 cases (24.7%), the condition was severe, and 299 (8.4%) incident cases were recorded (those arising more than 2 years after participant inclusion in the cohort).
• After adjustment for confounding factors, the MEDI-LITE score had a significant inverse relationship with having severe psoriasis: odds ratio (OR), 0.71; 95% CI, 0.55-0.92 for the MEDI-LITE score’s second tertile (score of 8 to 9); and OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.59-1.01 for the third tertile (score of 10 to 18).