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Comorbid autoimmune diseases in patients with pemphigus: a nationwide case-control study in Taiwan

  • Clinical report
  • Published:
European Journal of Dermatology Aims and scope

Abstract

Background

Previous studies have proposed the association between pemphigus and several autoimmune diseases, but no large-scale study has been reported.

Objectives

To delineate the association between pemphigus and autoimmune diseases including psoriasis.

Materials & Methods

A total of 1,998 patients with pemphigus and 7,992 control subjects were enrolled from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan from 1997 to 2010. The odds of comorbidities between these two groups were analysed by multivariate logistic regression.

Results

Compared with control subjects, patients with pemphigus were much more likely to have Sjögren’s syndrome (odds ratio [OR]: 15.0; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.16-71.5), psoriasis (OR: 7.18; 95% CI: 5.55-9.29), systemic lupus erythematosus (OR: 4.46; 95% CI: 1.88-10.6), and alopecia areata (OR: 2.68; 95% CI: 1.26-5.67). According to gender-stratified analyses, however, the association between pemphigus and Sjögren’s syndrome or alopecia areata was found to be significant only in the female patients.

Conclusion

We confirm the association between pemphigus and some autoimmune diseases, including Sjögren’s syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus, and alopecia areata. In addition, we present the novel finding that patients with pemphigus have an increased risk of psoriasis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yun-Wen Chiu, Yen-Da Chen, Tuan-Chun Hua, Chi-Hung Wu, Han-Nan Liu & Yun-Ting Chang

  2. Department of Dermatology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yen-Da Chen, Tuan-Chun Hua, Chi-Hung Wu, Han-Nan Liu & Yun-Ting Chang

  3. Department of Dermatology, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tuan-Chun Hua

  4. Department of Dermatology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan

    Han-Nan Liu

Authors
  1. Yun-Wen Chiu
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  2. Yen-Da Chen
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  3. Tuan-Chun Hua
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  4. Chi-Hung Wu
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  5. Han-Nan Liu
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  6. Yun-Ting Chang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yun-Ting Chang.

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Cite this article

Chiu, YW., Chen, YD., Hua, TC. et al. Comorbid autoimmune diseases in patients with pemphigus: a nationwide case-control study in Taiwan. Eur J Dermatol 27, 375–381 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2017.3060

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2017.3060

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