Immunologic biomarkers for clinical and therapeutic management of psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic management of psoriasis includes conventional treatments as well as the new generation of highly effective TNF-α inhibitors. However, psoriasis has proven to be a complex therapeutic challenge and treatment failures are not uncommon. Thus, laboratory biomarkers of disease progression/therapeutic efficacy may greatly help in the clinical management of psoriasis. AIMS: To identify laboratory biomarkers for clinical management and therapeutic monitoring of psoriasis. METHODS: An observational study performed on 59 patients, presenting moderate to severe psoriasis, undergoing treatment with anti-TNF-α agents (etanercept, adalimumab, and infliximab). Soluble and cellular immune/inflammatory parameters were assessed at baseline and after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Clinical efficacy was achieved in 88% of the subjects at 12 weeks, reaching 90% after 24 weeks. IL-6 and IL-22, which were elevated at baseline, were significantly reduced, in association with a significant decrease of CLA+ T cells and an increase of Treg lymphocytes. T, B, and NK cell subsets and T cell response to recall antigens did not show any evidence of immune suppression. CONCLUSIONS: Immune/inflammatory parameters including IL-6 and IL-22, CLA+ T cells, and Treg lymphocytes may prove to be valuable laboratory tools for the clinical and therapeutic monitoring of psoriasis.

Prevalence and management of panic attacks during infliximab infusion in psoriatic patients.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease associated with anxiety and depression. Infliximab (IFX) is a human/mouse chimeric anti-TNF-α antibody effective in the treatment of psoriasis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of panic disorders in psoriatic patients during IFX infusions. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on patients affected with psoriasis who were treated with IFX from 2002 to 2011 at a single center. Panic disorders were defined using the clinical criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition. A population of dermatological patients under treatment with IVG, rituximab, apheresis, intravenous corticosteroids and antibiotics was considered as the control group. RESULTS: A total of 141 patients were evaluated. Of these, 6 (4.25%) experienced panic attacks during the infusion; 16 (11.3%) had a medical history of panic attack and of those 5/16 (31%) experienced panic attacks during IFX infusion. In the control group panic attacks were not recorded. CONCLUSION: We describe 6 cases of patients in whom panic attacks were triggered by IFX infusion. Premedication with oral benzodiazepine and a slow rate of infusion is recommended.

The impact of methodological approaches for presenting long-term clinical data on estimates of efficacy in psoriasis illustrated by three-year treatment data on infliximab.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis affects about 2-3% of the Caucasian population. Biologics such as infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab and ustekinumab are efficacious treatments of plaque-type psoriasis. Critical to monitoring drug efficacy and safety is availability of long-term data. Despite the chronic nature of psoriasis, to date limited long-term clinical data have been available, as challenges are inherent in conducting a long-term analysis. With increasing time, it is more likely that the number of patients discontinuing treatment will also increase, due to loss of efficacy, adverse events or loss to follow-up. Interpretation of these data becomes confounded when one must consider missing data. Several approaches to analysing long-term data exist, and each accounts for missing data differently. OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate that the choice of a particular analysis method to account for missing data has great impact on the assessed response rate. METHODS: We used data from an open-label study over 3 years of continuous treatment with infliximab in patients with plaque-type psoriasis. These data were analysed by three methods--last observation carried forward, observed values and non-responder imputation--to account for missing data. RESULTS: The 3-year PASI 75 responses varied from 41 to 75%, depending on the method of analysis; this shows that the response rate can almost double when a more liberal analytical approach is used. CONCLUSIONS: While it is clear that the need for long-term data on biologics in psoriasis is great, considering the analysis undertaken is important when designing long-term studies and interpreting the resulting data. When analysis methods such as observed values only or last observation carried forward are used, the results of the more conservative non-responder imputation should also be presented to give a fair overview of the long-term efficacy of a treatment for plaque-type psoriasis.

Does metabolic syndrome influence psoriasis?

The metabolic syndrome is a combination of diabetes mellitus type 2, hypertension, central obesity and combined hyperlipidemia. The metabolic syndrome and its components have been largely associated with psoriasis. We report the case of a 66-year-old man affected with metabolic syndrome and psoriasis in which a multidisciplinary approach with endocrinologists and nutritionists led to an improvement of both conditions. After only 4 months of diet and an appropriate therapeutic regimen we observed an improvement of the hyperglycaemia, dyslipidemia, significant lose of weight, BMI switching from obesity to overweight and improvement of plaque psoriasis in absence of other treatments. We report this case to emphasise the need of a major control of the metabolic syndrome and associated comorbidities in psoriatic patients. Moreover we suggest that diet counselling and regular nutritional visits should be recommended in some patients to obtain dual benefits.