Obesity as one of the key independent risk factors for the development and adverse course of psoriatic arthritis
REVIEWS
Abstract
Today, there is an increase in the incidence of psoriatic arthritis in the world, including an increasing number of cases of high activity and severe course of this pathology, which significantly reduces the quality of life of patients. An equally important problem is the high prevalence of psoriatic arthritis among people of working age. According to literature data, more than half of patients with an established diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis are comorbid. Obesity is considered one of the most common comorbid conditions that exacerbate the chronic inflammatory process in psoriatic arthritis. In addition, modern data allow us to consider a high body mass index as a key predictor of the development of psoriatic arthritis. Excess body weight not only exerts additional mechanical stress on the musculoskeletal system (in particular, on the joints), but also contributes to the maintenance and aggravation of the chronic inflammatory process in the body by activating a number of immune cells and stimulating the expression of the most important proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins (IL-23, IL-17), contributing to structural damage to joints, as well as reducing the effectiveness of targeted therapy. Today, there are not many studies that prove the high importance of obesity as the main predictor that exacerbates the severity of psoriatic arthritis, but the relevance of this problem is only increasing, due to the increasing incidence of psoriatic arthritis and the high prevalence of obesity among the population. All of the above confirms the need for special attention to the role of high body mass index in people suffering from psoriatic arthritis.
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