Basic Susceptibility of Patients with Psoriasis under Systemic Therapy for Respiratory Infections: Data from the German Psoriasis Registry PsoBest

Abstract

Background: Patients with psoriasis under systemic treatments are in focus regarding their susceptibility to respiratory infections. To analyse real-world data for respiratory infections in patients with psoriasis under systemic treatments. Methods: We analysed data of the prospective, non-interventional German Psoriasis Registry PsoBest and compared rates for respiratory infections of 13,823 patients on systemic treatments for psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis in different therapy cohorts before the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: In total, 1415 respiratory infections were observed in 970 patients. Significant differences were observed between biologics and non-biologics, but not within these groups. The highest event rates (events/100 patient years) were identified for TNF-α inhibitors, 8.1, (CI 7.4–8.9), followed by 7.0 for IL-17 inhibitors (6.2–7.9), 5.7 for IL-12/23 and IL-23 inhibitors (5.1–6.5), 4.8 for methotrexate (4.3–5.4), 3.7 for small molecules (3.3–4.2), and 2.7 for retinoids (1.2–5.1). Conclusions: Overall, the susceptibility for respiratory infections in patients under systemic therapy for psoriasis is low compared to published study data and is sufficient as comparative data for COVID-19 studies.