TOPLINE:

Familial hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) was associated with higher risks for metabolic and cardiovascular comorbidities than sporadic hidradenitis suppurativa, according to a study.

METHODOLOGY:

• This study included data of 236 patients with HS (70.3% women; mean BMI, 30.7) from two multicentre prospective cohort studies conducted in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Italy.
• Familial HS was defined as having at least one first-degree relative with a physician-confirmed diagnosis. Overall, 61 patients (25.8%) had familial HS, and 175 (74.2%) had sporadic HS; patients with familial HS had an earlier mean age at onset (20.4 years vs 23.6 years; P = .015).
• Familial cases were milder but not significantly different in severity from sporadic ones (Hurley I: 26.2% vs 19.4%; Hurley II: 59.0% vs 56.6%; Hurley III: 14.8% vs 24.0%).
• Researchers assessed the prevalence of hyperlipidaemia, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and type 2 diabetes among patients with HS.

TAKEAWAY:

• Patients with familial HS had higher rates of hyperlipidaemia (18.0% vs 10.3%; P = .118), CVD (24.6% vs 20.6%; P = .588), and type 2 diabetes (14.8% vs 11.4%; P = .502) than those with sporadic HS.
• The proportion of patients with all three conditions (hyperlipidaemia, CVD, and type 2 diabetes) was significantly higher in familial cases (6.6% vs 0.6%; P = .017).
• The odds of presenting with all three conditions were higher among patients with familial HS than among those with sporadic HS (odds ratio [OR], 12.21; 95% CI, 1.94-150.1).
• Men with familial HS had an increased prevalence of hyperlipidaemia (OR, 4.25; 95% CI, 1.19-15.32) and type 2 diabetes (OR, 4.59; 95% CI, 0.85-26.93) despite similar smoking behaviour and BMI between sexes.

IN PRACTICE:

"Our meta-analysis, being the first to report a higher predominance of metabolic syndrome in (male) patients with familial HS, underscores the systemic impact of HS-related cytokines and a genetic predisposition toward worse metabolic outcomes and disease progression," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Suzan Al-Gburi, Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. It was published online on May 17, 2026, in Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft.

LIMITATIONS:

The study did not report any limitations.

DISCLOSURES:

This study was funded by the German Research Foundation; a Biomolecular Analyses for Tailored Medicine in Acne iNversa project, which was funded by ERA PerMed via the Austrian Science Fund; and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.