Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, spleen and psoriasis: New aspects of low-grade chronic inflammation

AIM: To investigate spleen status in psoriasis and its relationship with hepatic steatosis, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, and insulin resistance. METHODS: Seventy-nine psoriatic patients who were not suffering from any chronic inflammatory disease were retrospectively selected for inclusion in this study, and their complete medical records were accessed. An age-and sex-matched group of 80 non-psoriatic, obese patients was included as a control. The following relevant data were collected: age, sex, weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, insulin resistance status, age at psoriasis onset, and severity of psoriasis. Abdominal ultrasonography was performed to determine spleen longitudinal diameter (SLD), and hepatic steatosis grade. RESULTS: The SLD of control obese patients was greater than that of psoriatic subjects (P = 0.013), but body mass index predicted the size of the spleen in psoriatic patients (P < 0.001). The SLD of psoriatic patients with normal weight was significantly reduced with respect to the overweight/obese psoriatic patients (P = 0.002). A multiple regression analysis revealed that body mass index was a unique predictor of the spleen size (P < 0.001). Finally, the disease duration predicted the spleen size in psoriatic subjects (P = 0.038). CONCLUSION: This study shows a correlation between the SLD and the duration of psoriasis.