Dietary habits in Japanese patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: Low intake of meat in psoriasis and high intake of vitamin A in psoriatic arthritis

Abstract

Psoriasis is characterized by T‐helper 17 cell‐dominant abnormal immunity, and hyperproliferation and abnormal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes. Some patients are associated with arthritis. Dietary habits can modulate the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Previous studies in Western countries showed higher body mass indices, higher intake of fat and lower intake of fish or vegetables in psoriatic patients compared with the reference groups. We evaluated dietary habits in adult Japanese psoriatic patients, using a validated brief‐type self‐administered dietary history questionnaire, and compared the results to those of age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls. The results in psoriatic patients with arthritis were compared with those in the patients without. Japanese psoriatic patients showed higher body mass indices, higher intake of fish/shellfish, pulses, sugar/sweeteners, vitamin B12 and vitamin D, and lower intake of meat, compared with those of healthy controls. The logistic regression analysis showed that psoriasis was associated with high body mass index and low intake of meat. The intake of confection in patients with high Psoriasis Area and Severity Index was higher than that in those with low index. The intake of β‐carotene, vitamin A and green/yellow vegetables in psoriatic patients with arthritis were higher than those in the patients without. The dietary habits in Japanese psoriatic patients are rather different from those in Western patients. This is the first study showing the differences in dietary habits between psoriatic patients with arthritis and those without. Further studies should elucidate the relationships of these results with skin and joint lesions in psoriatic patients.

Estrogen receptor α activation aggravates imiquimod‐induced psoriasis‐like dermatitis in mice by enhancing dendritic cell interleukin‐23 secretion

“…Psoriasis is a chronic immune‐mediated disease affecting 2%‐4% of the population in the USA and Europe, but has a lower prevalence in Asian countries according to recent epidemiological studies (Parisi et al, 2013). However, a recent epidemiological study reported that psoriasis is increasing in Japan due to a westernization of the population's diet (Yamashita et al, 2019). Pathologically, psoriasis is initially induced by dendritic cell activation, leading to IL‐23 production.…”

Nutrition and Psoriasis

“…In DISH, certain factors including retinoids might stimulate mesenchymal stem cells at the periosteum or ligaments, and promote their abnormal osteoblast differentiation, leading to the hyperostosis at entheses [ 70 ]. The dietary intake of vitamin A in PSA patients was higher than that in psoriasis patients without arthritis in a Japanese study [ 71 ]. The relationship between higher vitamin A intake and the development or aggravation of PSA should further be investigated.…”

“…The analysis of dietary habits in adult Japanese psoriasis patients revealed that they showed higher body mass indices (BMIs), higher intakes of fish/shellfish, pulses, vitamin B12, and vitamin D, and lower intake of meat, compared to those of healthy controls [ 71 ]. The results in Japanese patients are rather different from those in Western countries showing higher intake of fat and lower intake of fish though both share higher BMIs.…”

“…Alternatively, Japanese psoriasis patients may consciously avoid the dietary pattern to promote psoriasis and cardiometabolic diseases. To the contrary, Japanese psoriasis patients in the same study consumed more sugar/sweeteners compared to controls, and patients with high PASI showed higher intake of confections, compared to those with low PASI [ 71 ]. The dietary patterns in Japanese patients might thus be rather ambivalent: psoriasis- and cardiometabolic disease-attenuating patterns like lower meat intake and these favoring patterns like higher intake of sugar/sweeteners or confections.…”

Importance of Redox Equilibrium in the Pathogenesis of Psoriasis—Impact of Antioxidant-Rich Diet

“…A Brazilian study also suggested that psoriasis patients followed an unhealthy died that predisposed them for the emergence of chronic diseases related to obesity and exacerbation of psoriatic lesions [ 71 , 73 ]. In Japan, psoriasis patients were observed to consume more fish and shellfish, leguminous plants, green and yellow vegetables, sugar and sweeteners, vitamin B12 and vitamin D, as well as less meat than healthy subjects [ 74 ]. The cited authors also reported that affected patients ingested more β-carotene and vitamin A with their diet, which evidenced radically different dietary habits of said psoriasis patients as compared to those from other parts of the world.…”