Karolina Demczuk

Antihypertensive drugs as factors that induct, aggravate and imitate psoriasis
2020-10-21

Psoriasis is one of the most common autoimmune, chronic and recurrent skin diseases. In Poland it affects almost 3 percent of the population what makes it an important health problem. Its systemic and inflammatory character causes the patients suffering from psoriasis to be more likely to also develop the metabolic syndrome (or its components such as hypertension) and cardiovascular diseases – myocardial infarction or stroke. Therefore, it requires the pharmacotherapy of the diagnosed disorders to be implemented, including the antihypertensive therapy. Clinical research and scientific studies show that certain patients that take some medicine lowering the blood pressure, may observe negative influence on the course of their psoriasis – inducting, aggravating or imitating it. Those skin side effects of the calcium channel antagonists, β-blockers medication and drugs affecting the RAA system are not common. However, due to the lack of adequate information about the possibility of their occurrence in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPCs), they might remain unrecognized. It is well-known that β-blockers are one of the most common reason of the psoriasis eruption or aggravation. They are also the most popular drugs used in the therapy of cardiovascular diseases, but in the SmPCs there is no information about their influence of psoriasis. Knowledge about the risk of aggravating or inducting psoriasis by some drug groups, is necessary to determine unexpected eruption of the psoriatic lesions, or worsening of the so far stable course of the disease. The ability to differentiate psoriatic lesions from the psoriasiform eruptions, including the acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis related to the medical administration, is important and often requires histological verification. According to the polypharmacy in psoriasis patients sometimes it is almost impossible to find the drug aggravating psoriasis. The only thing can help to solve the puzzle is detailed investigation.

Keywords: psoriasis, hypertension, pharmacovigilance.

© Farm Pol, 2020, 76(9): 519–526