Serum levels of sex hormones in men with chronic plaque psoriasis in comparison with a healthy control group

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with extensive systemic effects. The role of sex hormones in the pathogenesis of psoriasis remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, the level of sex hormones in male chronic plaque psoriasis patients was evaluated. This study was descriptive-analytic of the cross-sectional type, done with a total population of 60, including 30 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis and 30 healthy subjects in the control group. Serum levels of testosterone, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured in patients and the control group who did not have psoriasis. The two groups were matched based on the grouped matching technique. The two groups were matched for age (34 ± 9 years) and BMI (30 ± 3 kg/m2), and the effects of these two variables on hormonal levels were eliminated. According to the results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, the data had a normal distribution. The independent t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for data analysis. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. The levels of LH and FSH were significantly higher in the patient group than in the healthy group (P = 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively). Testosterone and estradiol serum levels were lower in the patient group than in the healthy group (P < 0.001). Our study suggests that male patients with chronic plaque psoriasis have higher levels of LH and FSH and lower levels of testosterone and estradiol than the general male population.