Tips Presented on GLP-1 Drug Use in Psoriasis and HS Management

A talk titled ‘GLP1 Agonist Therapy in Dermatology’ was presented at the 2025 Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Fall Conference, during which its presenter highlighted the evolving role of GLP-1–based therapies in the dermatology space.1

This session was presented by Karan Lal, DO, a double-board-certified pediatric and cosmetic dermatologist at Affiliated Dermatology in Scottsdale, Arizona. Lal delved into the mostly unexplored territory of GLP-1 drug use as a tool for addressing dermatologic diseases, highlighting clinical data, immuno-metabolic mechanisms, and the practical use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in dermatologic care.

“I do body contouring in my office, and I have a lot of people who come in that are really not good candidates for body contouring treatments,” Lal explained. “They come in and they want to do cool sculpting, or they want to do liposuction. The reality is, the fat they think they have, which is subcutaneous fat, is actually visceral fat. So, it's really hard to talk about that with people because they don't understand what that means…I'm like, ‘I want to do something, but I don't think that the procedure is the right thing for them.’ So I said, ‘Why don't we start doing GLPs?’”

Lal described GLP-1 drugs as safe, noting their recurring blood monitoring and their reductions in morbidity and mortality. When deciding on the use of GLP-1s, Lal noted clinicians must know the different types of medications, dosing frequencies, whether they will be using a prescription format, whether a patient can get covered, and any US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.

“I think that there's some really good data to talk about, at least preliminary [data],” Lal said. “The data that I would like to see is the TOGETHER trial, which is currently being done with ixekizumab and tirzepatide, which I think ends in May of 2026. I think soon we'll have some late-breaking, probably mid-study data. But I think next year is when we're really going to know the true impact of additional GLP-1 treatment in the management of psoriasis.”

In his discussion of the different types of GLP-1 medications available, Lal noted the newest one to become a generic: liraglutide, an injectable prescription GLP-1 receptor agonist.

“We also then have semaglutide, which has multiple brand names… and is approved for diabetes and weight loss,” Lal explained. “And then you have tirzepatide, which is approved primarily for weight loss. These are what we have now.”

Lal described the more popular weight loss drug options as semaglutide and tirzepatide, describing these drugs’ required dosing as being vastly different.

“Semaglutide is much smaller, so people are being dosed at like 0.25, 0.51, smaller numbers, whereas for tirzepatide, you start at 2.55, 10, 15, so you have a ways to go,” Lal said. “Those are important things to know. Liraglutide is also dosed very differently. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are dosed weekly. Liraglutide can be dosed every day, which is kind of hard to do.”

Over the course of his talk, Lal expressed several points in an effort to teach participants how GLP-1 receptor agonists may improve metabolic comorbidities, modulate systemic inflammation, and even potentially diminish one’s disease severity for psoriasis and HS.

“I think everyone's going to be on these drugs at some point in the future,” Lal said. “So just to put things into perspective, so liraglutide, which as I said was one of the oldest drugs in the GLP space, had a really small study where [investigators] looked, in a retrospective fashion, at patients that had plaque psoriasis…They were being treated for type 2 diabetes with liraglutide. They followed these patients before and after. They only had a small study, 32 patients in these 3 studies, and only a small number of them are prospective cohort studies. One was an actual randomized controlled trial, and they looked at different parameters of the PASI score, BMI.”

Lal noted these investigators also looked at the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). He highlighted the observed drop the investigators noted in this smaller population, specifically in such assessments as the patients’ Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores, BMI, absolute neutrophil count (ANC), and DLQI.

“These were patients that were being treated at pretty low doses, and I think most of these patients are on 0.6 milligrams every day, subcutaneously,” Lal explained. “Then they were able to titrate up a little bit. But we all know that when patients lose weight, a lot of their psoriasis does get better, independent of them being on a biologic. I think that's really interesting.”

For additional information on topics like these, view the latest in conference coverage from the 2025 SDPA meeting.

The quotes contained in this presentation summary were edited for clarity.

References

1. Lal K. GLP1 Agonist Therapy in Dermatology. Presented at the Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Fall Conference, November 5-9, San Antonio, TX.