A study of serum calcium and uric acid levels in Psoriasis

Introduction: Psoriasis is one of the most common dermatological conditions seen in daily practice. There has been a lot of research on its consideration as a systemic disease with researchers being of the view that the dermatological manifestations represent only a part of spectrum. This study was undertaken to analyze one such debatable association of serum calcium and uric acid levels with severity and clinical subtypes of psoriasis. Objectives: 1. To estimate the serum levels of calcium and uric acid in patients of psoriasis. 2. To correlate the severity of disease with serum levels of calcium and uric acid in patients of psoriasis. Materials and Methods: 100 patients of psoriasis who consented for the study were enrolled for this randomized, hospital based observational study. A detailed history, general physical examination and cutaneous examination was done to determine the clinical subtype and to calculate the PASI. Serum calcium and serum uric acid levels were estimated in all the patients. Results: Among the 100 patients studied, majority of patients were male (74 %), while female patients accounted for 26%. Chronic plaque psoriasis was the most common type, being present in 66%. Hypocalcemia was observed in 38% of study subjects. High serum uric acid levels were seen in 26.6%. There was a significant correlation observed between hypocalcemia and PASI score in psoriasis patients. Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between hypocalcemia and PASI score with no such correlation observed between serum uric acid level and PASI.