Key clinical point: Patients with psoriasis exhibit significantly lower levels of salivary cortisol despite having higher psychological stress levels, suggesting the existence of an impaired cortisol response to stress.
Major finding: Although patients with psoriasis vs controls had a significantly higher Perceived Stress Scale score (17.2 ±0.6 vs 15.1 ±0.8; P = .0289), their salivary cortisol levels were significantly lower (9.6±0.5 vs 14.0±1.1 nmol/L; P < .001).
Study details: This was a cross-sectional study including 126 adult patients with plaque psoriasis who had not received systemic anti-psoriasis therapy since at least 6 months and 116 healthy adult controls.
Disclosures: The study was supported by Fondazione Cariplo. P Gisondi and G Girolomoni declared serving as consultants or speakers for various organizations.
Source: Gisondi P et al. J Pers Med. 2021 Oct 23. doi: 10.3390/jpm11111069 .