Study of the Visceral Adipose Tissue in a Cohort of Patients with Moderate-Severe Psoriasis Treated with Biological Therapy

Abstract

Introduction: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) has a greater relationship with the genesis of the metabolic syndrome and the pathology associated with obesity. Methods: A cross-sectional study of patients with moderate-severe psoriasis in the Psoriasis Unit of the San Cecilio University Hospital in Granada in the period July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020, was performed. All the patients (n = 110) were receiving biological therapy to control the disease. The variables measured included age, sex, time since diagnosis, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), visceral and total fat, and severity parameters. The visceral fat index was evaluated using a bioimpedance scale, considering a cut-off point for a healthy level < 12. Results: Our sample consisted of 110 patients with a mean age of 47.47 years, with a clear predominance of males (61.7% of patients). After testing for normality using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the Mann-Whitney U test for nonparametric data for independent samples was used, which revealed significant differences between the number of previous treatments and visceral fat (U = -2.235, P = 0.025). No statistically significant differences were found when correlating total fat or visceral fat with BMI. Conclusions: The results presented lead us to consider if the levels of VAT could be a factor that contributes to some extent to therapeutic refractoriness. The determination of VAT using bioimpedance scales in patients with moderate-severe psoriasis is a valuable method to measure VAT.