Homocysteine Is a Marker of Increased Cardio-Cerebrovascular Disease Risk in Psoriatic Patients, but It Does Not Reflect the Effect of Biological Therapy in the Longitudinal Observation

Table 2

Longitudinal observation of HCYS levels (µmol/ml), PASI with type of therapy in groups based on the HCYS entrance level, difference tested by U-test or chi² test.

		Patient subgroups		value
		HCYS-normal level	HCYS-elevated level
Entrance visit	N	41	35
	HCYS (mean ± SD)	11.93 ± 2.10	21.06 ± 11.12
	PASI (mean ± SD)	22.75 ± 6.68	24.5 ± 8.76	0.546
	Therapy (categorical)	N (%)	N (%)
	Biologics: Etanercept; Adalimumab; Ustekinumab	22 (53.7%); 14 (34.1%); 5 (12.2%)	20 57.1%); 8 (22.9%); 7 (20.0%)	0.449^a
	Biologics and MTX	10 (24.4%)	8 (22.9%)	0.550^a
1-year follow-up	N	36	27
	HCYS (mean ± SD)	12.21 ± 4.1	19.33 ± 11.31	^b
	PASI (mean ± SD)	3.72 ± 2.96	4.72 ± 5.18	0.278^b
3-year follow-up	N	27	21
	HCYS (mean ± SD)	12.1 ± 3.94	18.54 ± 12.58	^b
	PASI (mean ± SD)	2.8 ± 1.74	3.81 ± 2.43	0.168^b
5-year follow-up	N	18	11
	HCYS (mean ± SD)	11.97 ± 2.34	23.93 ± 20.75	^b
	PASI (mean ± SD)	2.54 ± 2.1	3.18 ± 2.02	0.596^b

Abbreviations. HCYS: homocysteine; MTX: methotrexate; PASI: Psoriasis Area Severity Index. ^aPearson’s chi-squared test. ^bMann–Whitney U-test. ; .