Biologics Reduce Incidence of PsA in Patients With Psoriasis

Treatment with biologics significantly reduced the risk of developing psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients with psoriasis, according to findings published in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Investigators conducted a retrospective cohort study with 1719 patients who had psoriasis without PsA. Patients received the following topics, conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARDs), or biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs):

• topics: topics, phototherapy, or no treatment
• cDMARDs: methotrexate and cyclosporine
• bDMARDs: tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, interuelukin 17 inhibitors, and interleukin 12/interleukin 23 inhibitors

Of the full sample, 1387 (81%) patients were treated with topics, 229 (13%) with cDMARDs, and 103 (6%) with bDMARDs. Follow-up data indicated 239 (14%) total patients developed PsA, including 231 patients receiving topics, 6 patients receiving cDMARDs, and 2 patients receiving bDMARDs.

Compared to topics, bDMARDs were linked to a significantly lower risk of developing PsA (incidence rate ratio=.26; 95% CI .03-.94; P=.0111).

“Male sex, nail involvement and higher body max index were associated with increased risk of developing PsA, while biologics use was protective (HR: .19; 95% CI .05-.81),” researchers wrote.

There was no significant difference in risk reduction between patients receiving bDMARDs vs cDMARDs.

“Treatment with biologics in patients with [psoriasis] reduced the risk of PsA development,” authors concluded.

Reference:
Felquer MLA, LoGiudice L, Galimberti ML, Rosa J, Mazzuoccolo L, Soriano ER. Treating the skin with biologics in patients with psoriasis decreases the incidence of psoriatic arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;81(1):74-79. doi:10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220865