Long-term data in the treatment of psoriasis

Methotrexate: Revisited efficiency and safety of drug administration in psoriasis patients

The article presents the current data of the literature on methotrexate, which is now one of the most commonly used preparation for the systemic treatment of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. The following problems are under consideration: estimation by specialists of response to systemic psoriasis therapy and possible therapeutic strategies; selecting initial doses of methotrexate for the treatment of patients with psoriasis; the possibilities of combined use with genetically engineered biological agents and monitoring of therapy. The data from randomized clinical trials on the long-term continuous treatment with methotrexate (efficacy, safety); methods of its administration to patients and time and criteria for long-term effecasy are reported. There are presented the data on the mechanisms of methotrexate action and the new data about the impact on the adenosine metabolism and the ability of the preparation to modulate the inflammatory response in the skin of patients by inhibiting the cellular components of the inflammatory infiltrate in the skin (dendritic antigen-producing cells and T-lymphocytes), as well as the suppression of expression of some proinflammatory cytokines (IFN-y and IL17A).

Biologic therapy improves psoriasis by decreasing the activity of monocytes and neutrophils

Therapy with monoclonal antibodies to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and the interleukin (IL)-12/23 p40 subunit has significantly improved the clinical outcome of patients with psoriasis. These antibodies inhibit the effects of the target cytokines and thus the major concern during their use is the induction of excessive immunosuppression. Recent studies evaluating the long-term efficacy and safety of biologic therapy in psoriasis have shown no significant appearance of serious adverse effects including infections and malignancies. However, the immunological consequence and the mechanism by which the blockade of a single cytokine by biologics can successfully control the activity of psoriasis remain unclear. In the current study, we investigated the effect of biologic therapy on cytokine production of various lymphocytes and on the activity of monocytes and neutrophils in psoriatic patients. Neutrophils, monocytes and T cells were purified from heparinized peripheral venous blood by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, and γ-interferon, TNF-α and IL-17 production from lymphocytes was measured by flow cytometer. The activation maker of neutrophils and the activated subsets of monocytes were also analyzed. Biologic therapy induced no significant changes in the cytokine production by lymphocytes from the skin and gut-homing T cells. However, neutrophil activity and the ratio of activated monocyte population increased in severely psoriatic patients were normalized in psoriatic patients receiving biologic therapy. The present study showed that biologic therapy ameliorates clinical symptoms and controls the immune response in patients with psoriasis.

Ustekinumab improves psoriasis without altering T cell cytokine production, differentiation, and T cell receptor repertoire diversity

Ustekinumab is a fully human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin (IL)-12/23 p40 subunit. The role of IL-12/23-mediated pathway in the mechanism of various inflammatory disorders especially psoriasis has been well recognized. Recently the long-term efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis has been evaluated in phase 2/3 clinical trials, and the results showed no significant risk for serious adverse effects, infections, or malignancies. Ustekinumab inhibits the function of the IL-12/23 p40 subunit, and therefore it is believed that inhibition of IL-12 p40 pathway decreases IFN-γ production. The major concern for the use of ustekinumab is the possibility of increased immunosuppression due to low IFN-γ production. However, the effects of ustekinumab on CD4(+) T cell function have not been fully investigated so far. In this study, we explored changes in cytokine production by memory CD4(+) T cells as well as in the differentiation of naïve T cells to helper T cell (Th) 1, Th2, or Th17 cells in psoriasis patients treated with ustekinumab. The effect of the treatment on T cell receptor repertoire diversity was also evaluated. The results showed that ustekinumab improves clinical manifestation in patients with psoriasis without affecting cytokine production in memory T cells, T cell maturation, or T cell receptor repertoire diversity. Although the number of patients is limited, the present study suggests that T cell immune response remains unaffected in psoriasis patients treated with ustekinumab.

The long-term safety of adalimumab treatment in moderate to severe psoriasis: a comprehensive analysis of all adalimumab exposure in all clinical trials

BACKGROUND

A favorable benefit-risk profile has been established for adalimumab, with up to 5 years of treatment in 13 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this analysis was to assess the long-term safety of all adalimumab exposure in all psoriasis clinical trials.

METHODS

A total of six sets of data were analyzed as follows: (i) all cumulative safety data from all exposure for all adalimumab-treated patients in the 13 clinical trials in moderate to severe psoriasis (All Adalimumab Treatment Population) through April 2007, November 2008, and November 2009, respectively; (ii) longitudinal data for 1403 patients treated with adalimumab 40 mg every other week (eow) dosing (Every Other Week Population) through June 2007 and April 2010; and (iii) data from placebo-controlled periods of clinical trials. Adverse events that occurred up to 70 days after the final dose of adalimumab were analyzed.

RESULTS

During placebo-controlled periods, a total of 572 patients had 173.0 patient-years (PYs) of exposure to placebo and 1188 patients had 370.5 PYs of exposure to adalimumab. Adverse event incidence rates, expressed as events per 100 PYs (events/100 PYs), for placebo- and adalimumab-treated patients for serious adverse events were 7.52 and 8.64, and for serious infectious adverse events were 2.89 and 2.43, respectively. In the 2007, 2008, and 2009 All Adalimumab Treatment Population there were, respectively, 1819 patients (2424.7 PYs), 2197 patients (4351.9 PYs), and 3010 patients (4844.7 PYs), with serious adverse event incidence rates of 6.51, 7.22, and 8.36 events/100 PYs, and serious infectious adverse event rates of 1.32, 1.38, and 1.65 events/100 PYs. In the 2007 and 2010 Every Other Week Population (n = 1403), there were 1883.5 and 2854.1 total PYs of exposure, respectively, with serious adverse event incidence rates of 6.32 and 6.87 events/100 PYs, and serious infectious adverse event rates of 1.33 and 1.37 events/100 PYs, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Multiple lines of evidence from a total of six sets of safety data, with treatment for up to 5 years, including results from all adalimumab-treated patients, and a subset of patients treated with 40 mg eow dosing, did not show evidence of cumulative toxicity, and showed adverse event rates that were generally stable or decreased with increased mean per-patient exposure.

Efficacy and safety results from a phase III, randomized controlled trial comparing the safety and efficacy of briakinumab with etanercept and placebo in patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis

BACKGROUND

The tumour necrosis factor-α antagonist etanercept and the interleukin (IL)-12/23p40 antagonist ustekinumab have been shown to be effective psoriasis therapies. The IL-12/23p40 antagonist briakinumab was shown to be effective psoriasis treatment in a phase II study.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of briakinumab compared with etanercept and placebo in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis.

METHODS

Three hundred and fifty patients were enrolled in this phase III, 12-week study (M10-315, NCT00710580) and randomized in the following 2:2:1 ratio: 139 patients received 200 mg briakinumab at weeks 0 and 4 followed by 100 mg briakinumab at week 8; 139 patients received 50 mg of etanercept twice weekly 3-4 days apart at weeks 0-11; 72 patients received placebo injections matching active treatment. The co-primary efficacy endpoints were the proportion of patients achieving a Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) of 0/1 at week 12, and the proportion of patients achieving a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75 response at week 12.

RESULTS

Of the briakinumab-treated patients, 72·7% achieved a PGA of 0/1 at week 12 as compared with 29·5% of etanercept-treated patients and 4·2% of placebo-treated patients (P < 0·001, for both comparisons). Of the briakinumab-treated patients, 80·6% achieved a PASI 75 response at week 12 as compared with 39·6% of etanercept-treated and 6·9% of placebo-treated patients (P < 0·001, for both comparisons). Serious adverse events were reported in two (1·4%) briakinumab-treated patients, one (0·7%) etanercept-treated patient and two (2·8%) placebo-treated patients.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with moderate to severe psoriasis, briakinumab had superior efficacy to both placebo and etanercept at 12 weeks as administered in this study.

[Treatment of psoriasis using biologics]

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, which is characterized by red, scaly, raised plaques. Its symptoms may range in severity and there are severe clinical subtypes of psoriasis including pustular psoriasis. Pre-biological systemic therapies were targeting mainly keratinocyte proliferation and T cell activation. However, there were cases, in which these classic therapies were not fully effective or could not be used because of the accompanied severe organ failure of the psoriasis patient. Recent progress in psoriasis research has clarified which of the cells, cell surface molecules and cytokines play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Biological systemic therapies targeting these molecules have turned out to be extremely effective in treating psoriasis and are now used to treat moderate to severe psoriasis worldwide. These biological therapies are not only more effective than pre-biological systemic therapies, but also show more rapid response, and long-term efficacy is expected. The TNF-alpha inhibitors are now approved as the first biological therapy for psoriasis in Japan. These TNF-alpha inhibitors are expected to be a new standard therapy for severe psoriasis, however, since the long-term safety is an unsolved issue, careful clinical monitoring is required. (193 words).

A cost-utility analysis of etanercept for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis in Italy

Introduction:

Biologic therapies have proven efficacious for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. However, their economic value compared with standard of care in Italy has not been explored. This study estimates the cost-effectiveness of intermittent therapy with etanercept in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque-type psoriasis in comparison with nonsystemic therapy in Italy.

Methods:

This study employs cost–utility analysis using a Markov model adapted from the British “York model”. It compares the cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) of intermittent etanercept (25 mg twice weekly) versus nonsystemic therapy. Data on efficacy and changes in quality of life were derived from three etanercept clinical trials. Direct costs of treating psoriasis patients, including hospitalizations and dermatology clinic visits, were taken from an Italian cost-of-illness study. Extrapolations were made to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of intermittent etanercept versus nonsystemic therapy over a period of ten years.

Results:

For the group of patients with moderate and severe plaque psoriasis (initial Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI ≥ 10]) the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for etanercept compared with nonsystemic therapy was €33,216/QALY; for the group of patients with severe psoriasis (PASI ≥ 20), the ICER was €25,486/QALY.

Conclusions:

Within the Italian health care system, intermittent etanercept is a cost-effective therapeutic option compared with nonsystemic therapy for the group of patients with moderate and severe plaque psoriasis. For patients with PASI ≥ 20, cost-effectiveness of etanercept is even greater.

A role for TGFbeta signaling in the pathogenesis of psoriasis

Deregulation of transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta) signaling has been reported in human psoriasis. Our recent study using a keratin 5 promoter (K5.TGFbeta1(wt)) showed that transgenic mice expressing wild-type TGFbeta1 in the epidermis developed severe skin inflammation. Additional experimental data further support a direct role for TGFbeta1 overexpression in skin inflammation. First, we temporally induced TGFbeta1 expression in keratinocytes in our gene-switch TGFbeta1(wt) transgenic mice and found inflammation severity correlated with TGFbeta1(wt) transgene expression. Second, deletion of T cells in K5.TGFbeta1(wt) mice significantly delayed skin inflammation and associated epidermal hyperplasia/hyperkeratosis. Third, therapeutic approaches effective for human psoriasis, that is, Etanercept and Rosiglitazone, are effective in alleviating the symptoms observed in K5.TGFbeta1(wt) mice. Future studies will analyze specific mechanisms and identify key factors in TGFbeta1-induced skin inflammation. Our mouse models will provide a useful tool for understanding the molecular mechanisms of inflammatory skin disorders in which TGFbeta1 is overexpressed.

The role of TNF inhibitors in psoriasis therapy: new implications for associated comorbidities

Over the past several years, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists have become first-line agents in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. These medications are highly effective in treating both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and may also reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with chronic inflammatory disorders. In this article we review the use of anti-TNF therapy in psoriasis and its implications in regards to the co-morbid conditions associated with psoriasis.