Multidisciplinary Approaches to Treating Patients With Psoriasis: Jennifer Soung, MD

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Psoriatic disease is a common immune-mediated condition that primarily affects the skin. It’s often associated with metabolic comorbidities like obesity, diabetes, and increased cardiovascular risk.1

Treating patients with psoriatic diseases requires a comprehensive approach, said Jennifer Soung, MD, a board-certified dermatologist who leads clinical research at Southern California Dermatology and works with patients who have various psoriatic diseases. In an interview with The American Journal of Managed Care®, Soung explained that sometimes younger patients with psoriasis don’t have a primary care doctor to manage and direct all of their primary care needs, thus leaving the majority of primary care up to their dermatologist.

“I think the best care is really a multidisciplinary approach,” she said. “I would say rheumatologists are probably the most common that I work with, and then primary care. Beyond that, a comprehensive approach also includes, possibly, an endocrinologist because the patient has diabetes.”

Soung said she also sometimes works with obesity medicine specialists because more often than not, her psoriasis patients also have obesity. However, newer medications like glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), she said, may also help to alleviate symptoms associated with psoriatic disease in addition to weight loss.

“There's some early evidence that GLP-1 RAs have a direct anti-inflammatory effect on the immune cells that contribute to inflammation and psoriasis,” Soung said. “When we treat the patient with this comprehensive approach, we're now going to address the skin, the joints, and all of the metabolic conditions.”

Soung explained in depth the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration between physicians when treating patients with psoriasis at the 2025 Skin of Color Conference Update. Key points she and her co-panelists discussed in a session highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary care were that some biologics don’t work as well in patients’ psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, and comorbidities, particularly obesity.2 Furthermore, patients with obesity have a 1.5 to 3 times higher risk of psoriatic arthritis in areas of high impact on their bodies.3,4

However, addressing said comorbidities with patients can be tricky, Soung said. She described it as a sensitive topic, especially given the stigmas surrounding it, but one way she manages to initiate that conversation is by asking if patients are comfortable even talking about their weight.

“Next is really then advising [and saying], 'Hey, let’s take a look at your BMI,’ and talking about whether there is a connection between your weight and systemic inflammation,” she said. “And [trying to see if] all your other health [comorbidities connect] back to your health condition. Educating the patient about that connection is really important.”

Then she moves on to addressing the issue with potential treatments. Soung said she is excited about GLP-1 RAs as a new tool that can help patients recognize and change their nutritional and exercise habits and see improvements in their health and condition.

“I see this as an amazing additional tool to help patients address,” she said. “Their weight and systemic inflammation, along with me treating their skin and joints for their psoriatic disease.”

References

1. Kumthekar A, Ogdie A. Obesity and psoriatic arthritis: a narrative review. Rheumatol Ther. 2020 Sep;7(3):447-456. doi: 10.1007/s40744-020-00215-6

2. Kim HJ, Lee E, Jung Y. Association of obesity and innate immune markers with resistance to biologic therapy in psoriasis. JAMA Dermatol. 2025;161(6):629–634. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2025.0288

3. Czarnecka A, Zabłotna M, Purzycka-Bohdan D, Nowicki RJ, Szczerkowska-Dobosz A. An observational study of 147 psoriasis patients: overweightness and obesity as significant clinical factors correlated with psoriasis. Medicina. 2023; 59(11):2006. doi:10.3390/medicina59112006

4. El-Boghdady NA, Ismail MF, Abd-Alhameed MF, Ahmed AS, Ahmed HH. Bidirectional association between psoriasis and obesity: benefits and risks. 2018; 38(1). doi:10.1089/jir.2017.0105