Common Psoriasis Drug Improves Some, But Not All, CV Risk Markers

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor adalimumab does not improve aortic vascular inflammation—a key cardiovascular (CV) risk marker—in patients with psoriasis, according to new study findings.

However, adalimumab was shown to improve other important inflammatory markers associated with CV risk. Thus, it may still provide a CV benefit in psoriasis, which is known to increase patients’ risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Psoriasis Severity May Be Influenced by Vitamin D Levels
Treating Concurrent Psoriasis and IBD: Which Options Are Best?
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, senior study author and professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania will present findings from the study at the International Investigative Dermatology 2018 Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.

After a separate study showed that the biologic ustekinumab was associated with a 19% reduction in aortic inflammation in psoriasis patients, Dr Gelfand and colleagues aimed to determine whether treatment with adalimumab could achieve a similar result.

The researchers evaluated 97 patients at 8 enrollment sites. Patients were treated with either adalimumab, placebo, or Ultraviolet B phototherapy for 12 weeks. After this initial treatment phase, adalimumab-treated patients received 40 more weeks of treatment, and placebo-treated and Ultraviolet B-treated patients received 52 weeks of adalimumab treatment.

Results indicated that, at 12 weeks and 52 weeks, adalimumab-treated patients experienced no change in aortic vascular inflammation compared with placebo or baseline.

Patients in the Ultraviolet B treatment group demonstrated a 4% reduction in aortic vascular inflammation from baseline. However, the difference was not statistically significant from placebo.

Although adalimumab was not found to improve aortic vascular inflammation, the researchers observed improvements in other important inflammatory markers in the blood—including GlycA, C-reactive protein, TNF, and interleukin-6—among patients who received adalimumab.

“Each of these increases future risk of heart attack and diabetes, so observing a reduction of these markers of systemic inflammation provides compelling evidence of beneficial effects of anti-TNF therapy in psoriasis,” said the study’s lead author Nehal N. Mehta, MD, MSCE, FAHA, chief of the Laboratory of Inflammation and Cardiometabolic Diseases at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in a press release.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Humira does not improve aortic vascular inflammation in psoriasis patients [press release]. Philadelphia, PA. Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. May 18, 2018. http://www.newswise.com/articles/humira-does-not-improve-aortic-vascular-inflammation-in-psoriasis-patients. Accessed on May 18, 2018.