Clinical features and effects of cyclosporine in the treatment of psoriasis: a systemic review and meta-analysis

To systematically evaluate clinical features and effects of cyclosporine in the treatment of psoriasis. Databases including Web of Science, PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, Wan Fang, and VIP were electronically searched for studies on the use of cyclosporine in the treatment of psoriasis, from inception to March 2024. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. A meta-analysis was then performed. A total of 12 randomised controlled trial (RCT) studies were included. Compared with the control group, there were statistically significant differences in the effective rate, recurrence rate, erythema regression time, pustular resolution time, fever resolution time, and Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score of cyclosporine in the treatment of psoriasis. Moreover, the sub-group analysis showed that the effective rate of patients aged less than 40 years was significantly higher than that of the control group and the recurrence rate was significantly lower than that of the control group. The effective rate of psoriasis patients without nail lesions was significantly higher than that of control group. The effective rate of cyclosporin was significantly higher than that of dexamethasone acetate. There was no significant change in pooled sensitivity and specificity after each study was excluded one by one, indicating the stability of the meta-analysis. Cyclosporine had a high effective rate and low recurrence rate in the treatment of psoriasis, but it still had similar rate of adverse reactions compared to other drugs. This study systematically evaluated the effect of cyclosporine in the treatment of psoriasis and provided reference for clinical practice.