The impact of biologic treatment in psoriasis patients on COVID-19 infection: A single-center retrospective study

Abstract

Previous studies of whether biologics place psoriasis patients at more severe SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and disease course remains unclear.This single-center retrospective clinical study included patients with psoriasis from December 2022 to April 2023 to compare the rate of COVID-19 infection, duration, and risk of hospitalization and death in patients treated with to without biologics,and to compare the effect of COVID-19 on the course of psoriasis. General information, underlying diseases, disease information of psoriasis and covid-19 infection were recorded. SPSS 28.0 was used for statistical analysis of the data. Among the 260 included patients with psoriasis, 73.85% were treated with biologics. 67.31% of patients were infected with COVID-19.The mean duration of symptoms was 7.57±4.75 days. No patients were counted as requiring oxygenation or hospitalization for SARS-CoV-2 infection. No deaths were recorded during the observation period.The amount of patients with fever was lower in patients treated with biologics(81.20%) compared to those without one(97.62%). Differences in the distribution of other COVID-19-specific signs and symptoms were not statistically significant(P＜0.05). Binary logistic regression suggested that increased prevalence was not associated with the use of biologics after adjustment for potential confounders (OR=0.672,P=0.198). 38.86% of patients had exacerbation of psoriatic lesions after infection with SARS-CoV-2, with a statistically significant difference between those with and without biologics. Exacerbation was more common in the form of a new rash. The finding suggests biologics in patients with psoriasis does not increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection or worsen the course of COVID-19. In terms of exacerbation of psoriatic lesions by SARS-CoV-2 infections, the number of worsening disease courses treated with biologics was lower compared to conventional treatments.