Clinical meaningfulness of complete skin clearance in psoriasis.

Background: New psoriasis therapies have increased the ability to achieve skin clearance. However, insufficient evidence exists on the impact of total skin clearance from the patient perspective.

Objective: We sought to determine if complete skin clearance is clinically meaningful compared with treatment responses without clearance.

Secukinumab long-term safety experience: A pooled analysis of 10 phase II and III clinical studies in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Background: Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated efficacy and safety in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Objective: We reviewed safety data from the secukinumab psoriasis phase II/III program.

Methods: Data were pooled from 10 phase II/III secukinumab psoriasis studies.

A prospective phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of brodalumab in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Background: The interleukin-17 cytokine family plays a central role in psoriasis pathogenesis.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of brodalumab, a human anti-interleukin-17 receptor antibody, in treating patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Methods: In this phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (NCT01708590; AMAGINE-1), adult patients in the U.

Ixekizumab: a new anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibody therapy for moderate-to severe plaque psoriasis.

Introduction: Psoriasis is a common, systemic, inflammatory disease with prominent skin and joint manifestations. Interleukin 17A (IL-17A) has been identified as a key effector cytokine that mediates immunopathogenesis of psoriasis. Ixekizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets IL-17A, has been found in clinical trials to dramatically reduce signs and symptoms of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Demographics, clinical disease characteristics, and quality of life in a large cohort of psoriasis patients with and without psoriatic arthritis.

Innovation: What is already known about the topic: psoriasis (PsO) is a common skin disease with major impact on quality of life (QoL). Patient-reported data on QoL from large number of PsO patients with and without psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are limited.

What This Study Adds: In a large cohort referred to a university psoriasis center, patients with PsO and concomitant PsA (~30% in this group) had greater degrees of skin and nail involvement and experienced greater negative impacts on QoL.

Biosimilars for psoriasis: preclinical analytical assessment to determine similarity.

Biosimilars, sometimes called 'generic biologics', are no longer a vision for the future but a present-day reality. Drug manufacturers and regulatory authorities are charged with ensuring that these products are safe and effective. Because biologically produced medications are large, complex proteins, many factors affect the quality of the end product, including glycosylation and presence of impurities, and thus many factors need to be compared between an emerging biosimilar and its originator biologic.

Efficacy and safety of dupilumab in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis inadequately controlled by topical treatments: a randomised, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging phase 2b trial.

Background: Data from early-stage studies suggested that interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 are requisite drivers of atopic dermatitis, evidenced by marked improvement after treatment with dupilumab, a fully-human monoclonal antibody that blocks both pathways. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of several dose regimens of dupilumab in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis inadequately controlled by topical treatments.

Methods: In this randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, we enrolled patients aged 18 years or older who had an Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score of 12 or higher at screening (≥16 at baseline) and inadequate response to topical treatments from 91 study centres, including hospitals, clinics, and academic institutions, in Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Poland, and the USA.

Secukinumab Improves Physical Function in Subjects With Plaque Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: Results from Two Randomized, Phase 3 Trials.

Background: Interleukin (IL)-17A is a key cytokine in the pathogenesis of psoriatic disease of the skin and joints. In phase 3 trials, secukinumab, a fully human anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibody, demonstrated robust efficacy in psoriasis, with rapid onset, high response rates, and durable response.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of secukinumab in subjects with psoriasis and concomitant psoriatic arthritis (PsA) with respect to psoriasis symptoms and physical function, we conducted pre-specified subanalyses of the phase 3 FIXTURE and ERASURE trials.

Essential Truths for the Care and Management of Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a systemic inflammatory disease. Effective management requires treatment with agents targeting inflammation in skin, joints, and other tissues. Biologics for psoriasis are directed at more specific targets, have a better safety profile, are better tolerated, and are more effective than conventional systemic agents.

Lymphatic dysfunction attenuates tumor immunity through impaired antigen presentation.

Tumor growth and metastasis of cancer involve autonomous tumor cell growth and host-tumor interactions. While tumor-specific immunity has been intensively studied in vitro, dynamic roles of lymphatic transport on tumor immunity in vivo have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we examined tumor growth and anti-tumor immune responses using kCYC mice, which demonstrate severe lymphatic dysfunction.

Secukinumab is superior to ustekinumab in clearing skin of subjects with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis: CLEAR, a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, has shown superior efficacy to etanercept with similar safety in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (FIXTURE study).

Objective: We sought to directly compare efficacy and safety of secukinumab versus ustekinumab.

Methods: In this 52-week, double-blind study (NCT02074982), 676 subjects were randomized 1:1 to subcutaneous injection of secukinumab 300 mg or ustekinumab per label.

IL-23/IL-17A Dysfunction Phenotypes Inform Possible Clinical Effects from Anti-IL-17A Therapies.

Biologics that neutralize specific cytokines have improved outcomes for several immune-mediated disorders but may also increase risks for particular side effects. This article postulates potential immunologic consequences of inhibiting components of the IL-23/T-helper cell 17 pathway-the target of next-generation biologics for treating psoriasis-based on clinical phenotypes of inherent or acquired deficiencies in this pathway. Generally, downstream deficiencies (e.

A 52-week, open-label study of the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab, an anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis.

Background: Patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis demonstrated positive responses to ixekizumab, an anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, in a phase-II, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Objective: We sought to evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of ixekizumab.

Methods: After receiving 10, 25, 75, or 150 mg of ixekizumab or placebo during randomized, placebo-controlled trial, patients with less than 75% improvement from baseline on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score (PASI75) entered open-label extension (OLE); patients with PASI75 or higher entered a treatment-free period (weeks 20-32), then entered OLE after meeting response criteria.

Secukinumab administration by pre-filled syringe: efficacy, safety and usability results from a randomized controlled trial in psoriasis (FEATURE).

Background: Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, demonstrated efficacy and safety in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis when administered via subcutaneous injection. Self-administration by pre-filled syringe (PFS) can offer patients clinical benefits of a drug, with increased convenience.

Objectives: To assess efficacy, safety and usability of secukinumab administration via PFS in subjects with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

A novel, short, and simple screening questionnaire can suggest presence of psoriatic arthritis in psoriasis patients in a dermatology clinic.

Delaying diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) can lead to poor quality of life and disability. The purpose of this study is to identify simple questions for dermatologists to screen psoriasis patients for psoriatic arthritis. Data regarding psoriasis and arthritis were prospectively collected by a questionnaire from all psoriasis patients.

From the Medical Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation: The risk of cardiovascular disease in individuals with psoriasis and the potential impact of current therapies.

Background: Many studies have identified cardiovascular risk factors in patients with psoriasis. Some psoriasis therapies may increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) and others may decrease CVD.

Objective: We reviewed the literature to define the impact of common psoriasis therapies on cardiovascular measures and outcomes.

Persistence of Staphylococcus aureus colonization among individuals with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases treated with TNF-α inhibitor therapy.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between Staphylococcus aureus colonization and the use of immunosuppressive therapies in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs).

Methods: We prospectively enrolled IMID patients from the rheumatology and dermatology departments of Oregon Health & Science University. At enrolment, we surveyed patients for S.

Effect of infliximab on health-related quality of life and disease activity by body region in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and inadequate response to etanercept: results from the PSUNRISE trial.

Background: Treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α antagonists is effective in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, including those with impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: PSUNRISE is a multicenter, open-label, prospective study evaluating the efficacy and safety of switching from etanercept to infliximab in psoriasis patients with an inadequate response to etanercept. Patients received intravenous infusions of infliximab 5 mg/ kg at weeks 0, 2, 6, 14, and 22.

Delayed wound healing due to increased interleukin-10 expression in mice with lymphatic dysfunction.

Skin wound healing is an interactive process involving soluble mediators, ECM, resident cells, and infiltrating cells. Little is known about wound healing in the presence of lymphedema. In this study, we investigated wound healing using kCYC⁺/⁻ mice, which demonstrate severe lymphatic dysfunction.

Antimicrobial peptide LL-37 produced by HSV-2-infected keratinocytes enhances HIV infection of Langerhans cells.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV)-2 shedding is associated with increased risk for sexually acquiring HIV. Because Langerhans cells (LCs), the mucosal epithelium resident dendritic cells, are suspected to be one of the initial target cell types infected by HIV following sexual exposure, we examined whether and how HSV-2 affects HIV infection of LCs. Although relatively few HSV-2/HIV-coinfected LCs were detected, HSV-2 dramatically enhanced the HIV susceptibility of LCs within skin explants.