This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Psoriasis patients experienced arthritis flares following ustekinumab treatment
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Patients with psoriasis who switched from an anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy to ustekinumab treatment had improved psoriasis symptoms but experienced arthritis flares, according to recent study results.
Researchers in New York studied four middle-aged men with plaque psoriasis who switched from anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy to ustekinumab monotherapy. Two of the men also had a history of psoriatic arthritis.
In all four patients, psoriasis improved dramatically but flares of psoriatic arthritis or “unmasked previously occult joint disease” appeared following the treatment with ustekinumab, a human monoclonal antibody, which binds to the shared p40 subunit of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23.
Two patients discontinued ustekinumab treatment and achieved remission within 1 month, while the other two patients decided to continue ustekinumab treatment.
Researchers noted that it was possible that the anti-TNF treatment was controlling the joint disease in the two men who did not have a history of psoriatic arthritis prior to ustekinumab treatment.
“The number of patients receiving ustekinumab therapy continues to rise,” the researchers concluded. “Although we report a small case series of arthritis flares after ustekinumab monotherapy, future studies are warranted to better characterize the role of this drug.
“Since there is no way to predict those at risk for psoriatic arthritis in the setting of ustekinumab therapy, educating health care providers and patients to recognize the symptoms and signs of this destructive, inflammatory joint disorder is essential.”
Disclosure: The researchers declare no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts