AbstractObjectives: The aim of study is to assess the association between patients with psoriasis and
hepatitis B and/or C.
Methods: This case control study that enrolled total 110 patients with psoriasis were
included in the study, 63 males and 47 females and their age range from 15 to 70 years old ,
with male to female ratio 1.4 :1 . The study was conducted in Al sader teaching hospital and
Al Hakeem hospital in Al Najaf governorate during the period from January 2013 to February
2014. All recruited patients had their ages, gender and case histories recorded on an already
prepared data sheet. All recruited patients and control groups had been subjected to that
Hepatitis Bs antigen (HBsAg) and anti-hepatitis C antibodies (anti-HCV) were done using
Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits.
Results: This study that enrolled total 110 patients were included, 63 males and 47 females
and their age range from 15 to 70 years old , with male to female ratio 1.4 :1 . There were
increased incidence of male patients with psoriasis 63(44.1%), but there were no statistically
significant difference between studied patients and control groups, (p=0.5) . There were
increased incidence of patients with psoriasis younger than 50 years, 70 (53.8%), statistically
significant difference between studied patients and control groups, (p=0.007) .
There were statistically significant difference between studied patients and control groups
regarding smoking , 30 (33.3%), (p=0.003). There were increased incidence of seropositive
for hepatitis C in patients with psoriasis .There were statistically significant difference
between studied patients and control groups regarding hepatitis C 4 (16.7 %), (p=0.003).
There were no statistically significant difference between studied patients and control groups
regarding hepatitis B 1 (33.3%), (p=0.6) .
Conclusions: This study support of an association between psoriasis and hepatitis C but not
with hepatitis B. The predictors for psoriasis as risk factor in this study were male younger
than 50 years with history of smoking with association with hepatitis C infection .
Recommendation: Physicians who care for patients with psoriasis should be aware of this
possible association and consider screening patients with psoriasis for hepatitis C infection.
Key words: prevalence, Psoriasis, hepatitis B and C