Vinod Chandran, MBBS, MD, DM, PhD

Two new papers published recently provide evidence of the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Bimekizumab is a novel bispecific monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F and is already approved for the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis. McInnes and colleagues reported the results of the phase 3 BE OPTIMAL study, which included 852 patients with active PsA who were naive to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) and were randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab, placebo, or adalimumab. At week 16, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving bimekizumab vs placebo achieved ≥ 50% improvement in American College of Rheumatology response (ACR50; 44% vs 10%; odds ratio [OR] 7.1; P < .0001). Compared with placebo, significant improvements were also noted in psoriasis, enthesitis, and dactylitis in the bimekizumab group and there was less progression of radiographic damage.

Bimekizumab was also demonstrated to be beneficial in PsA patients with inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). In the phase 3 BE COMPLETE study, which included 400 patients with active PsA and previous inadequate response or intolerance to TNFi, patients were randomly assigned to receive 160 mg subcutaneous bimekizumab every 4 weeks or placebo. Merola and colleagues reported that at week 16, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving bimekizumab vs placebo achieved ACR50 response (43% vs 7%; OR 11.1; P < .0001). Thus, bimekizumab is a welcome addition to the treatment portfolio we have for PsA. In regard to side effects of special concern when inhibiting IL-17, bimekizumab was associated with higher risk for oral and genital candidiasis, occurring in 4% of the treated patients within 16 weeks in the two studies; however, no cases of systemic fungal infections occurred. The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease was also very low, but head-to-head studies against other available agents would be required to help rheumatologists decide the place of bimekizumab in PsA management.

A common clinical question is whether axial PsA is similar to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with psoriasis. Assuming that it is, clinicians have used treatments approved for AS for managing axial PsA. Recent studies have questioned this assumption, however. Michelena and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study that included 109 patients with axial PsA and 127 patients with AS and psoriasis from the REGISPONSER registry. Compared with patients with AS and psoriasis, patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27–negative axial PsA had less inflammatory pain (P = .002), anterior uveitis (P = .014), and structural damage (P < .001), along with a higher prevalence of nail disease (P = .009). Patients with HLA-B27–positive axial PsA vs AS and psoriasis were similar but had less structural damage to the spine (P < .001). Thus, there seem to be significant clinical and genetic differences between these two diseases that require further investigation. Lack of an accepted definition of axial PsA, however, is a hindrance to multiple high-quality genetic, clinical, and interventional studies comparing axial PsA and AS with psoriasis.

Observational studies have recognized the clinical and familial association between psoriatic disease and Crohn's disease (CD), but such cross-sectional or retrospective studies cannot identify causal relationships. Mendelian randomization is a method used to identify causal relationships. Using this method, Sun and colleagues demonstrated that PsA was associated with a 31.9% increased risk for CD (P < .001) and genetically predicted CD was linked to a 44.8% higher risk for PsA (P = .001). No such association was found with ulcerative colitis. Thus, there is a bidirectional causal relationship between the two diseases. Patients with PsA should be evaluated for symptoms of CD, and those with CD for psoriatic disease, to facilitate early diagnosis and better long-term outcomes.

Two new papers published recently provide evidence of the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Bimekizumab is a novel bispecific monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F and is already approved for the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis. McInnes and colleagues reported the results of the phase 3 BE OPTIMAL study, which included 852 patients with active PsA who were naive to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) and were randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab, placebo, or adalimumab. At week 16, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving bimekizumab vs placebo achieved ≥ 50% improvement in American College of Rheumatology response (ACR50; 44% vs 10%; odds ratio [OR] 7.1; P < .0001). Compared with placebo, significant improvements were also noted in psoriasis, enthesitis, and dactylitis in the bimekizumab group and there was less progression of radiographic damage.

Bimekizumab was also demonstrated to be beneficial in PsA patients with inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). In the phase 3 BE COMPLETE study, which included 400 patients with active PsA and previous inadequate response or intolerance to TNFi, patients were randomly assigned to receive 160 mg subcutaneous bimekizumab every 4 weeks or placebo. Merola and colleagues reported that at week 16, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving bimekizumab vs placebo achieved ACR50 response (43% vs 7%; OR 11.1; P < .0001). Thus, bimekizumab is a welcome addition to the treatment portfolio we have for PsA. In regard to side effects of special concern when inhibiting IL-17, bimekizumab was associated with higher risk for oral and genital candidiasis, occurring in 4% of the treated patients within 16 weeks in the two studies; however, no cases of systemic fungal infections occurred. The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease was also very low, but head-to-head studies against other available agents would be required to help rheumatologists decide the place of bimekizumab in PsA management.

A common clinical question is whether axial PsA is similar to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with psoriasis. Assuming that it is, clinicians have used treatments approved for AS for managing axial PsA. Recent studies have questioned this assumption, however. Michelena and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study that included 109 patients with axial PsA and 127 patients with AS and psoriasis from the REGISPONSER registry. Compared with patients with AS and psoriasis, patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27–negative axial PsA had less inflammatory pain (P = .002), anterior uveitis (P = .014), and structural damage (P < .001), along with a higher prevalence of nail disease (P = .009). Patients with HLA-B27–positive axial PsA vs AS and psoriasis were similar but had less structural damage to the spine (P < .001). Thus, there seem to be significant clinical and genetic differences between these two diseases that require further investigation. Lack of an accepted definition of axial PsA, however, is a hindrance to multiple high-quality genetic, clinical, and interventional studies comparing axial PsA and AS with psoriasis.

Observational studies have recognized the clinical and familial association between psoriatic disease and Crohn's disease (CD), but such cross-sectional or retrospective studies cannot identify causal relationships. Mendelian randomization is a method used to identify causal relationships. Using this method, Sun and colleagues demonstrated that PsA was associated with a 31.9% increased risk for CD (P < .001) and genetically predicted CD was linked to a 44.8% higher risk for PsA (P = .001). No such association was found with ulcerative colitis. Thus, there is a bidirectional causal relationship between the two diseases. Patients with PsA should be evaluated for symptoms of CD, and those with CD for psoriatic disease, to facilitate early diagnosis and better long-term outcomes.

Two new papers published recently provide evidence of the efficacy and safety of bimekizumab in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Bimekizumab is a novel bispecific monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin (IL)-17A and IL-17F and is already approved for the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis. McInnes and colleagues reported the results of the phase 3 BE OPTIMAL study, which included 852 patients with active PsA who were naive to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) and were randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab, placebo, or adalimumab. At week 16, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving bimekizumab vs placebo achieved ≥ 50% improvement in American College of Rheumatology response (ACR50; 44% vs 10%; odds ratio [OR] 7.1; P < .0001). Compared with placebo, significant improvements were also noted in psoriasis, enthesitis, and dactylitis in the bimekizumab group and there was less progression of radiographic damage.

Bimekizumab was also demonstrated to be beneficial in PsA patients with inadequate response or intolerance to tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). In the phase 3 BE COMPLETE study, which included 400 patients with active PsA and previous inadequate response or intolerance to TNFi, patients were randomly assigned to receive 160 mg subcutaneous bimekizumab every 4 weeks or placebo. Merola and colleagues reported that at week 16, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving bimekizumab vs placebo achieved ACR50 response (43% vs 7%; OR 11.1; P < .0001). Thus, bimekizumab is a welcome addition to the treatment portfolio we have for PsA. In regard to side effects of special concern when inhibiting IL-17, bimekizumab was associated with higher risk for oral and genital candidiasis, occurring in 4% of the treated patients within 16 weeks in the two studies; however, no cases of systemic fungal infections occurred. The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease was also very low, but head-to-head studies against other available agents would be required to help rheumatologists decide the place of bimekizumab in PsA management.

A common clinical question is whether axial PsA is similar to ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with psoriasis. Assuming that it is, clinicians have used treatments approved for AS for managing axial PsA. Recent studies have questioned this assumption, however. Michelena and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study that included 109 patients with axial PsA and 127 patients with AS and psoriasis from the REGISPONSER registry. Compared with patients with AS and psoriasis, patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27–negative axial PsA had less inflammatory pain (P = .002), anterior uveitis (P = .014), and structural damage (P < .001), along with a higher prevalence of nail disease (P = .009). Patients with HLA-B27–positive axial PsA vs AS and psoriasis were similar but had less structural damage to the spine (P < .001). Thus, there seem to be significant clinical and genetic differences between these two diseases that require further investigation. Lack of an accepted definition of axial PsA, however, is a hindrance to multiple high-quality genetic, clinical, and interventional studies comparing axial PsA and AS with psoriasis.

Observational studies have recognized the clinical and familial association between psoriatic disease and Crohn's disease (CD), but such cross-sectional or retrospective studies cannot identify causal relationships. Mendelian randomization is a method used to identify causal relationships. Using this method, Sun and colleagues demonstrated that PsA was associated with a 31.9% increased risk for CD (P < .001) and genetically predicted CD was linked to a 44.8% higher risk for PsA (P = .001). No such association was found with ulcerative colitis. Thus, there is a bidirectional causal relationship between the two diseases. Patients with PsA should be evaluated for symptoms of CD, and those with CD for psoriatic disease, to facilitate early diagnosis and better long-term outcomes.

Research published during the past month focused mostly on sex differences, biomarkers, and treatment. Sex differences in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are a significant focus of current research. One major question is how clinical features differ between men and women. Furer and colleagues investigated differences in musculoskeletal ultrasonographic features between men and women with PsA. In a prospective study including 70 men and 88 women, they demonstrated that although the total synovitis and tenosynovitis scores were similar between the two sexes, compared with women, men had higher total ultrasound and gray scale enthesitis scores (both P = .01) and sonographic active inflammatory score (P = .005). Given the uncertainty associated with the clinical diagnosis of enthesitis, this study emphasizes the importance of careful ultrasonographic evaluation when evaluating enthesitis patients, especially women.

It is important to investigate pregnancy outcomes in women with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA, to appropriately counsel and manage patients in the reproductive-age group. Preeclampsia is an important pregnancy outcome that is less well studied in PsA. Secher and colleagues analyzed data from registries in Sweden and Denmark that included singleton pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 1739), axial spondyloarthritis (n = 819), and PsA (n = 489) who were matched with 17,390, 8190, and 4890 control pregnant women, respectively. They found that compared with the control women, the risk for preeclampsia was much higher in women with PsA (adjusted odds ratio [aOR; adjusted for country, maternal age, parity, year of delivery, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and education] 1.85; 95% CI 1.10-3.12), with the risk being primarily driven by the receipt of monotherapy for PsA before pregnancy (aOR 2.72; 95% CI 1.44-5.13), probably reflecting the presence of more severe disease. Women with PsA who tend to have higher BMI and active disease need to be counseled about the risk for preeclampsia and be carefully monitored.

The Disease Activity index for PsA (DAPSA) is a validated instrument used in clinical practice to assess PsA disease activity. One drawback of this instrument is that it requires testing for C-reactive protein (CRP), the results of which may not be available immediately, making it difficult to use DAPSA for implementing treating-to-target strategies during a clinic visit. To alleviate this issue, a quick quantitative CRP (qCRP) assay was developed. In a multicenter, cross-sectional study including 104 patients with PsA and available CRP values (measured by routine laboratory and qCRP assays), Proft and colleagues demonstrated that 98.1% of patients were similarly categorized into disease activity groups (remission and low, moderate, and high disease activity) using DAPSA based on qCRP (Q-DAPSA) and DAPSA. The agreement between the two instruments was excellent (weighted Cohen kappa 0.980; 95% CI 0.952-1.000). Thus, the Q-DAPSA may be used in place of DAPSA when evaluating PsA disease activity.

Regarding treatment, in an exploratory analysis of SELECT-PsA 1, McInnes and colleagues demonstrated that, at week 104, a similar proportion of patients receiving 15/30 mg upadacitinib vs adalimumab achieved ≥ 20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) criteria (69.0%/69.5% vs 63.4%), whereas significantly more patients receiving 30 mg upadacitinib vs adalimumab achieved minimal disease activity (45.9% vs 37.8%; P < .05). The safety profiles of upadacitinib and adalimumab were comparable. Moreover, analyses of 52-week outcome data from the ongoing phase 3 KEEPsAKE 1 study of risankizumab (IL-23 inhibitor) by Kristensen and colleagues showed that among patients who received risankizumab continuously, the ACR20 response increased from 57.3% at week 24 to 70.0% at week 52. No new safety signals were identified. Thus, upadacitinib and risankizumab are newer, safe, and effective disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for PsA.

Research published during the past month focused mostly on sex differences, biomarkers, and treatment. Sex differences in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are a significant focus of current research. One major question is how clinical features differ between men and women. Furer and colleagues investigated differences in musculoskeletal ultrasonographic features between men and women with PsA. In a prospective study including 70 men and 88 women, they demonstrated that although the total synovitis and tenosynovitis scores were similar between the two sexes, compared with women, men had higher total ultrasound and gray scale enthesitis scores (both P = .01) and sonographic active inflammatory score (P = .005). Given the uncertainty associated with the clinical diagnosis of enthesitis, this study emphasizes the importance of careful ultrasonographic evaluation when evaluating enthesitis patients, especially women.

It is important to investigate pregnancy outcomes in women with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA, to appropriately counsel and manage patients in the reproductive-age group. Preeclampsia is an important pregnancy outcome that is less well studied in PsA. Secher and colleagues analyzed data from registries in Sweden and Denmark that included singleton pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 1739), axial spondyloarthritis (n = 819), and PsA (n = 489) who were matched with 17,390, 8190, and 4890 control pregnant women, respectively. They found that compared with the control women, the risk for preeclampsia was much higher in women with PsA (adjusted odds ratio [aOR; adjusted for country, maternal age, parity, year of delivery, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and education] 1.85; 95% CI 1.10-3.12), with the risk being primarily driven by the receipt of monotherapy for PsA before pregnancy (aOR 2.72; 95% CI 1.44-5.13), probably reflecting the presence of more severe disease. Women with PsA who tend to have higher BMI and active disease need to be counseled about the risk for preeclampsia and be carefully monitored.

The Disease Activity index for PsA (DAPSA) is a validated instrument used in clinical practice to assess PsA disease activity. One drawback of this instrument is that it requires testing for C-reactive protein (CRP), the results of which may not be available immediately, making it difficult to use DAPSA for implementing treating-to-target strategies during a clinic visit. To alleviate this issue, a quick quantitative CRP (qCRP) assay was developed. In a multicenter, cross-sectional study including 104 patients with PsA and available CRP values (measured by routine laboratory and qCRP assays), Proft and colleagues demonstrated that 98.1% of patients were similarly categorized into disease activity groups (remission and low, moderate, and high disease activity) using DAPSA based on qCRP (Q-DAPSA) and DAPSA. The agreement between the two instruments was excellent (weighted Cohen kappa 0.980; 95% CI 0.952-1.000). Thus, the Q-DAPSA may be used in place of DAPSA when evaluating PsA disease activity.

Regarding treatment, in an exploratory analysis of SELECT-PsA 1, McInnes and colleagues demonstrated that, at week 104, a similar proportion of patients receiving 15/30 mg upadacitinib vs adalimumab achieved ≥ 20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) criteria (69.0%/69.5% vs 63.4%), whereas significantly more patients receiving 30 mg upadacitinib vs adalimumab achieved minimal disease activity (45.9% vs 37.8%; P < .05). The safety profiles of upadacitinib and adalimumab were comparable. Moreover, analyses of 52-week outcome data from the ongoing phase 3 KEEPsAKE 1 study of risankizumab (IL-23 inhibitor) by Kristensen and colleagues showed that among patients who received risankizumab continuously, the ACR20 response increased from 57.3% at week 24 to 70.0% at week 52. No new safety signals were identified. Thus, upadacitinib and risankizumab are newer, safe, and effective disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for PsA.

Research published during the past month focused mostly on sex differences, biomarkers, and treatment. Sex differences in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are a significant focus of current research. One major question is how clinical features differ between men and women. Furer and colleagues investigated differences in musculoskeletal ultrasonographic features between men and women with PsA. In a prospective study including 70 men and 88 women, they demonstrated that although the total synovitis and tenosynovitis scores were similar between the two sexes, compared with women, men had higher total ultrasound and gray scale enthesitis scores (both P = .01) and sonographic active inflammatory score (P = .005). Given the uncertainty associated with the clinical diagnosis of enthesitis, this study emphasizes the importance of careful ultrasonographic evaluation when evaluating enthesitis patients, especially women.

It is important to investigate pregnancy outcomes in women with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA, to appropriately counsel and manage patients in the reproductive-age group. Preeclampsia is an important pregnancy outcome that is less well studied in PsA. Secher and colleagues analyzed data from registries in Sweden and Denmark that included singleton pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 1739), axial spondyloarthritis (n = 819), and PsA (n = 489) who were matched with 17,390, 8190, and 4890 control pregnant women, respectively. They found that compared with the control women, the risk for preeclampsia was much higher in women with PsA (adjusted odds ratio [aOR; adjusted for country, maternal age, parity, year of delivery, body mass index (BMI), smoking, and education] 1.85; 95% CI 1.10-3.12), with the risk being primarily driven by the receipt of monotherapy for PsA before pregnancy (aOR 2.72; 95% CI 1.44-5.13), probably reflecting the presence of more severe disease. Women with PsA who tend to have higher BMI and active disease need to be counseled about the risk for preeclampsia and be carefully monitored.

The Disease Activity index for PsA (DAPSA) is a validated instrument used in clinical practice to assess PsA disease activity. One drawback of this instrument is that it requires testing for C-reactive protein (CRP), the results of which may not be available immediately, making it difficult to use DAPSA for implementing treating-to-target strategies during a clinic visit. To alleviate this issue, a quick quantitative CRP (qCRP) assay was developed. In a multicenter, cross-sectional study including 104 patients with PsA and available CRP values (measured by routine laboratory and qCRP assays), Proft and colleagues demonstrated that 98.1% of patients were similarly categorized into disease activity groups (remission and low, moderate, and high disease activity) using DAPSA based on qCRP (Q-DAPSA) and DAPSA. The agreement between the two instruments was excellent (weighted Cohen kappa 0.980; 95% CI 0.952-1.000). Thus, the Q-DAPSA may be used in place of DAPSA when evaluating PsA disease activity.

Regarding treatment, in an exploratory analysis of SELECT-PsA 1, McInnes and colleagues demonstrated that, at week 104, a similar proportion of patients receiving 15/30 mg upadacitinib vs adalimumab achieved ≥ 20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) criteria (69.0%/69.5% vs 63.4%), whereas significantly more patients receiving 30 mg upadacitinib vs adalimumab achieved minimal disease activity (45.9% vs 37.8%; P < .05). The safety profiles of upadacitinib and adalimumab were comparable. Moreover, analyses of 52-week outcome data from the ongoing phase 3 KEEPsAKE 1 study of risankizumab (IL-23 inhibitor) by Kristensen and colleagues showed that among patients who received risankizumab continuously, the ACR20 response increased from 57.3% at week 24 to 70.0% at week 52. No new safety signals were identified. Thus, upadacitinib and risankizumab are newer, safe, and effective disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for PsA.

The effectiveness and safety of advanced therapies for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) was a focus of many published studies last month. Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) are a recent class of drugs made available to treat PsA and related diseases, and several clinical trials have been published. Sarabia and colleagues reported the results of a meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials including 6757 patients with psoriasis or PsA who received treatment with a JAKi or placebo. Their analyses revealed that treatment with JAKi vs placebo was associated with higher odds of achieving American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) response (odds ratio [OR] 4.45; 95% CI 3.64-5.44), with similar outcomes observed with tofacitinib vs placebo (OR 2.96; 95% CI 2.01-4.35) and non-tofacitinib JAKi vs placebo (OR 5.41; 95% CI 3.95-7.40). Serious adverse event rates were low (1%-7% in the maximum-dose intervention group).

Interleukin-23i (guselkumab, tildrakizumab, or risankizumab) are another class of biologics recently approved for the treatment of PsA. Preliminary results from a real-world study demonstrate the efficacy of these drugs for PsA. In a retrospective observational study including 80 patients with psoriasis (22 with PsA) who received guselkumab, tildrakizumab, or risankizumab, Elgaard and colleagues demonstrated that 40.9% or 36.4% of the PsA patients achieved complete or partial remission, respectively, compared with only 18.2% of patients with no improvement.

Regarding drug safety, a recent study demonstrated low rates of opportunistic infections with biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) and targeted synthetic DMARD (tsDMARD). Vassilopoulos and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 47 randomized controlled trials and 26 follow-up extension studies that included patients with PsA who received at least one dose of a bDMARD or a tsDMARD (n = 11,790) or placebo (n = 6425) during the placebo-controlled period, and 17,197 patients who received at least one dose of a bDMARD or a tsDMARD in the long-term extension period.

The cumulative incidence of opportunistic infections was < 3% when stratified by the mechanism of action: JAKi (2.72%; 95% CI 1.05%-5.04%), anti-interleukin (IL)-17i (1.18%; 95% CI 0.60%-1.90%), anti-IL-23i (0.24%; 95% CI 0.04%-0.54%), and TNFi (0.01%; 95% CI 0.00%-0.21%). These results are consistent with my own observations in my clinic. Thus, currently available advanced therapies, including JAKi and IL-23i, are effective and safe for the management of patients with PsA when used as monotherapy with or without conventional synthetic DMARD (csDMARD). Ongoing studies on combination therapy will provide us with guidance on the efficacy and safety of combining these drugs for the treatment of resistant disease.

Many patients do not respond to treatment, however. Actionable risk factors for lack of response are of clinical interest. One such factor is obesity. In an observational study of 774 adult PsA patients who started their first b/tsDMARD, Vallejo-Yague and colleagues reported that the odds of achieving minimal disease activity (adjusted OR [aOR] 0.45; 95% CI 0.24-0.82) and Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA)-remission (aOR 0.42; 95% CI 0.21-0.85) were lower in the obese vs normal-weight group within the first year. Thus, obese patients had ~50% lower likelihood of achieving a state of low disease activity. Comprehensive management of PsA must include management of obesity and other comorbid conditions to achieve optimal outcomes.

Finally, an interesting study by Freuer and colleagues used bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization in 12,882 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 21,770 matched controls, 5621 patients with psoriasis, 2063 patients with PsA, and 252,323 controls. The study found that genetically predicted IBD was associated with a higher risk for PsA (pooled OR 1.11; P = .003) with the risk being majorly mediated by Crohn's disease (OR 1.12; P = .002) and not ulcerative colitis (P = .70). Thus, patients with Crohn's disease need to be carefully evaluated for the development of PsA.

The effectiveness and safety of advanced therapies for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) was a focus of many published studies last month. Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) are a recent class of drugs made available to treat PsA and related diseases, and several clinical trials have been published. Sarabia and colleagues reported the results of a meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials including 6757 patients with psoriasis or PsA who received treatment with a JAKi or placebo. Their analyses revealed that treatment with JAKi vs placebo was associated with higher odds of achieving American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) response (odds ratio [OR] 4.45; 95% CI 3.64-5.44), with similar outcomes observed with tofacitinib vs placebo (OR 2.96; 95% CI 2.01-4.35) and non-tofacitinib JAKi vs placebo (OR 5.41; 95% CI 3.95-7.40). Serious adverse event rates were low (1%-7% in the maximum-dose intervention group).

Interleukin-23i (guselkumab, tildrakizumab, or risankizumab) are another class of biologics recently approved for the treatment of PsA. Preliminary results from a real-world study demonstrate the efficacy of these drugs for PsA. In a retrospective observational study including 80 patients with psoriasis (22 with PsA) who received guselkumab, tildrakizumab, or risankizumab, Elgaard and colleagues demonstrated that 40.9% or 36.4% of the PsA patients achieved complete or partial remission, respectively, compared with only 18.2% of patients with no improvement.

Regarding drug safety, a recent study demonstrated low rates of opportunistic infections with biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) and targeted synthetic DMARD (tsDMARD). Vassilopoulos and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 47 randomized controlled trials and 26 follow-up extension studies that included patients with PsA who received at least one dose of a bDMARD or a tsDMARD (n = 11,790) or placebo (n = 6425) during the placebo-controlled period, and 17,197 patients who received at least one dose of a bDMARD or a tsDMARD in the long-term extension period.

The cumulative incidence of opportunistic infections was < 3% when stratified by the mechanism of action: JAKi (2.72%; 95% CI 1.05%-5.04%), anti-interleukin (IL)-17i (1.18%; 95% CI 0.60%-1.90%), anti-IL-23i (0.24%; 95% CI 0.04%-0.54%), and TNFi (0.01%; 95% CI 0.00%-0.21%). These results are consistent with my own observations in my clinic. Thus, currently available advanced therapies, including JAKi and IL-23i, are effective and safe for the management of patients with PsA when used as monotherapy with or without conventional synthetic DMARD (csDMARD). Ongoing studies on combination therapy will provide us with guidance on the efficacy and safety of combining these drugs for the treatment of resistant disease.

Many patients do not respond to treatment, however. Actionable risk factors for lack of response are of clinical interest. One such factor is obesity. In an observational study of 774 adult PsA patients who started their first b/tsDMARD, Vallejo-Yague and colleagues reported that the odds of achieving minimal disease activity (adjusted OR [aOR] 0.45; 95% CI 0.24-0.82) and Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA)-remission (aOR 0.42; 95% CI 0.21-0.85) were lower in the obese vs normal-weight group within the first year. Thus, obese patients had ~50% lower likelihood of achieving a state of low disease activity. Comprehensive management of PsA must include management of obesity and other comorbid conditions to achieve optimal outcomes.

Finally, an interesting study by Freuer and colleagues used bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization in 12,882 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 21,770 matched controls, 5621 patients with psoriasis, 2063 patients with PsA, and 252,323 controls. The study found that genetically predicted IBD was associated with a higher risk for PsA (pooled OR 1.11; P = .003) with the risk being majorly mediated by Crohn's disease (OR 1.12; P = .002) and not ulcerative colitis (P = .70). Thus, patients with Crohn's disease need to be carefully evaluated for the development of PsA.

The effectiveness and safety of advanced therapies for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) was a focus of many published studies last month. Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) are a recent class of drugs made available to treat PsA and related diseases, and several clinical trials have been published. Sarabia and colleagues reported the results of a meta-analysis of 15 randomized controlled trials including 6757 patients with psoriasis or PsA who received treatment with a JAKi or placebo. Their analyses revealed that treatment with JAKi vs placebo was associated with higher odds of achieving American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) response (odds ratio [OR] 4.45; 95% CI 3.64-5.44), with similar outcomes observed with tofacitinib vs placebo (OR 2.96; 95% CI 2.01-4.35) and non-tofacitinib JAKi vs placebo (OR 5.41; 95% CI 3.95-7.40). Serious adverse event rates were low (1%-7% in the maximum-dose intervention group).

Interleukin-23i (guselkumab, tildrakizumab, or risankizumab) are another class of biologics recently approved for the treatment of PsA. Preliminary results from a real-world study demonstrate the efficacy of these drugs for PsA. In a retrospective observational study including 80 patients with psoriasis (22 with PsA) who received guselkumab, tildrakizumab, or risankizumab, Elgaard and colleagues demonstrated that 40.9% or 36.4% of the PsA patients achieved complete or partial remission, respectively, compared with only 18.2% of patients with no improvement.

Regarding drug safety, a recent study demonstrated low rates of opportunistic infections with biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) and targeted synthetic DMARD (tsDMARD). Vassilopoulos and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 47 randomized controlled trials and 26 follow-up extension studies that included patients with PsA who received at least one dose of a bDMARD or a tsDMARD (n = 11,790) or placebo (n = 6425) during the placebo-controlled period, and 17,197 patients who received at least one dose of a bDMARD or a tsDMARD in the long-term extension period.

The cumulative incidence of opportunistic infections was < 3% when stratified by the mechanism of action: JAKi (2.72%; 95% CI 1.05%-5.04%), anti-interleukin (IL)-17i (1.18%; 95% CI 0.60%-1.90%), anti-IL-23i (0.24%; 95% CI 0.04%-0.54%), and TNFi (0.01%; 95% CI 0.00%-0.21%). These results are consistent with my own observations in my clinic. Thus, currently available advanced therapies, including JAKi and IL-23i, are effective and safe for the management of patients with PsA when used as monotherapy with or without conventional synthetic DMARD (csDMARD). Ongoing studies on combination therapy will provide us with guidance on the efficacy and safety of combining these drugs for the treatment of resistant disease.

Many patients do not respond to treatment, however. Actionable risk factors for lack of response are of clinical interest. One such factor is obesity. In an observational study of 774 adult PsA patients who started their first b/tsDMARD, Vallejo-Yague and colleagues reported that the odds of achieving minimal disease activity (adjusted OR [aOR] 0.45; 95% CI 0.24-0.82) and Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA)-remission (aOR 0.42; 95% CI 0.21-0.85) were lower in the obese vs normal-weight group within the first year. Thus, obese patients had ~50% lower likelihood of achieving a state of low disease activity. Comprehensive management of PsA must include management of obesity and other comorbid conditions to achieve optimal outcomes.

Finally, an interesting study by Freuer and colleagues used bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization in 12,882 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 21,770 matched controls, 5621 patients with psoriasis, 2063 patients with PsA, and 252,323 controls. The study found that genetically predicted IBD was associated with a higher risk for PsA (pooled OR 1.11; P = .003) with the risk being majorly mediated by Crohn's disease (OR 1.12; P = .002) and not ulcerative colitis (P = .70). Thus, patients with Crohn's disease need to be carefully evaluated for the development of PsA.

Research on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) published over the past month has highlighted the effect of disease on patients and provided insights into clinical management. Because of the heterogeneous nature of PsA, assessing disease activity is difficult. A blood biomarker for disease activity would be useful. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a commonly used and well-established marker of inflammation in general. However, CRP does not reflect PsA disease activity itself. In a cross-sectional study, Gialouri and colleagues evaluated the association between CRP and PsA disease activity. CRP status (CRP  ≤  0.5 mg/dL [normal] and CRP > 0.5  mg/dL [increased]) was not associated with any of the clinical disease activity (clinical Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis [cDAPSA] or minimal disease activity [MDA]) or patient-reported outcomes measures (Patient Global, Patient Pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index [HAQ-DI] or EuroQol [EQ-5D]). Among patients with normal CRP levels, a substantial proportion (45.9%) were not in MDA (thus, an indicator of active disease) while 76.7% of patients with elevated CRP were not in MDA. Therefore, an elevated CRP may indicate active PsA, but a normal CRP is not a reliable indicator of disease state in PsA.

Gender differences in PsA are increasingly being recognized as important. In a real-world survey of 2270 PsA patients (1047 women) from Europe and the United States, Gossec and colleagues demonstrated that, despite similar disease duration, disease presentation, and biologic use, women had worse quality-of-life, disability, and physical functioning scores, a greater degree of work activity impairment, and higher pain and fatigue scores compared with men. Thus, it is increasingly clear that PsA affects women differently from men. Interventions for the holistic management of PsA should be tailored according to the patient's gender for optimal outcomes.

Despite major advances in the treatment of adult PsA, the treatment options for children with PsA (juvenile PsA [JPsA]) are limited. Anti–tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents are the only currently approved advanced therapy. Brunner and colleagues conducted a treatment-withdrawal, phase 3 study including 86 biologic-naive patients with active enthesitis-related arthritis (n = 52) or JPsA (n = 34) who were randomly assigned to receive secukinumab or placebo.

This study demonstrated that, compared with placebo, secukinumab was associated with a significant delay in disease flare and a higher proportion of patients achieving juvenile idiopathic arthritis American College of Rheumatology 30 response at week 104. This study provides evidence that secukinumab, a safe and effective therapy used in adult psoriatic disease, may provide similar benefits in JPsA, especially in patients who either have not responded to or have contraindications to treatment with anti-TNF agents.

Finally, because skin disease predates joint disease in almost 90% of PsA patients, identifying predictors for the development of joint disease is of considerable interest. It is hoped that identifying such predictors will help dermatologists and primary care physicians stratify management such that those at higher risk are carefully followed up for early diagnosis or even preventive therapy.

To identify such predictors, Ogdie and colleagues conducted a prospective study of 1489 patients with psoriasis and no prior diagnosis of PsA from the CorEvitas Psoriasis registry. They demonstrated that 10% of patients with psoriasis developed PsA after 2 years. Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST, a brief screening questionnaire for PsA) and body mass index (BMI) were important factors predicting the development of PsA. Although the incidence of PsA in this cohort is higher than that reported from other studies, the study indicates that PEST and BMI should be important factors that predict PsA and should be variables in any prediction model.

Research on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) published over the past month has highlighted the effect of disease on patients and provided insights into clinical management. Because of the heterogeneous nature of PsA, assessing disease activity is difficult. A blood biomarker for disease activity would be useful. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a commonly used and well-established marker of inflammation in general. However, CRP does not reflect PsA disease activity itself. In a cross-sectional study, Gialouri and colleagues evaluated the association between CRP and PsA disease activity. CRP status (CRP  ≤  0.5 mg/dL [normal] and CRP > 0.5  mg/dL [increased]) was not associated with any of the clinical disease activity (clinical Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis [cDAPSA] or minimal disease activity [MDA]) or patient-reported outcomes measures (Patient Global, Patient Pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index [HAQ-DI] or EuroQol [EQ-5D]). Among patients with normal CRP levels, a substantial proportion (45.9%) were not in MDA (thus, an indicator of active disease) while 76.7% of patients with elevated CRP were not in MDA. Therefore, an elevated CRP may indicate active PsA, but a normal CRP is not a reliable indicator of disease state in PsA.

Gender differences in PsA are increasingly being recognized as important. In a real-world survey of 2270 PsA patients (1047 women) from Europe and the United States, Gossec and colleagues demonstrated that, despite similar disease duration, disease presentation, and biologic use, women had worse quality-of-life, disability, and physical functioning scores, a greater degree of work activity impairment, and higher pain and fatigue scores compared with men. Thus, it is increasingly clear that PsA affects women differently from men. Interventions for the holistic management of PsA should be tailored according to the patient's gender for optimal outcomes.

Despite major advances in the treatment of adult PsA, the treatment options for children with PsA (juvenile PsA [JPsA]) are limited. Anti–tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents are the only currently approved advanced therapy. Brunner and colleagues conducted a treatment-withdrawal, phase 3 study including 86 biologic-naive patients with active enthesitis-related arthritis (n = 52) or JPsA (n = 34) who were randomly assigned to receive secukinumab or placebo.

This study demonstrated that, compared with placebo, secukinumab was associated with a significant delay in disease flare and a higher proportion of patients achieving juvenile idiopathic arthritis American College of Rheumatology 30 response at week 104. This study provides evidence that secukinumab, a safe and effective therapy used in adult psoriatic disease, may provide similar benefits in JPsA, especially in patients who either have not responded to or have contraindications to treatment with anti-TNF agents.

Finally, because skin disease predates joint disease in almost 90% of PsA patients, identifying predictors for the development of joint disease is of considerable interest. It is hoped that identifying such predictors will help dermatologists and primary care physicians stratify management such that those at higher risk are carefully followed up for early diagnosis or even preventive therapy.

To identify such predictors, Ogdie and colleagues conducted a prospective study of 1489 patients with psoriasis and no prior diagnosis of PsA from the CorEvitas Psoriasis registry. They demonstrated that 10% of patients with psoriasis developed PsA after 2 years. Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST, a brief screening questionnaire for PsA) and body mass index (BMI) were important factors predicting the development of PsA. Although the incidence of PsA in this cohort is higher than that reported from other studies, the study indicates that PEST and BMI should be important factors that predict PsA and should be variables in any prediction model.

Research on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) published over the past month has highlighted the effect of disease on patients and provided insights into clinical management. Because of the heterogeneous nature of PsA, assessing disease activity is difficult. A blood biomarker for disease activity would be useful. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a commonly used and well-established marker of inflammation in general. However, CRP does not reflect PsA disease activity itself. In a cross-sectional study, Gialouri and colleagues evaluated the association between CRP and PsA disease activity. CRP status (CRP  ≤  0.5 mg/dL [normal] and CRP > 0.5  mg/dL [increased]) was not associated with any of the clinical disease activity (clinical Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis [cDAPSA] or minimal disease activity [MDA]) or patient-reported outcomes measures (Patient Global, Patient Pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index [HAQ-DI] or EuroQol [EQ-5D]). Among patients with normal CRP levels, a substantial proportion (45.9%) were not in MDA (thus, an indicator of active disease) while 76.7% of patients with elevated CRP were not in MDA. Therefore, an elevated CRP may indicate active PsA, but a normal CRP is not a reliable indicator of disease state in PsA.

Gender differences in PsA are increasingly being recognized as important. In a real-world survey of 2270 PsA patients (1047 women) from Europe and the United States, Gossec and colleagues demonstrated that, despite similar disease duration, disease presentation, and biologic use, women had worse quality-of-life, disability, and physical functioning scores, a greater degree of work activity impairment, and higher pain and fatigue scores compared with men. Thus, it is increasingly clear that PsA affects women differently from men. Interventions for the holistic management of PsA should be tailored according to the patient's gender for optimal outcomes.

Despite major advances in the treatment of adult PsA, the treatment options for children with PsA (juvenile PsA [JPsA]) are limited. Anti–tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents are the only currently approved advanced therapy. Brunner and colleagues conducted a treatment-withdrawal, phase 3 study including 86 biologic-naive patients with active enthesitis-related arthritis (n = 52) or JPsA (n = 34) who were randomly assigned to receive secukinumab or placebo.

This study demonstrated that, compared with placebo, secukinumab was associated with a significant delay in disease flare and a higher proportion of patients achieving juvenile idiopathic arthritis American College of Rheumatology 30 response at week 104. This study provides evidence that secukinumab, a safe and effective therapy used in adult psoriatic disease, may provide similar benefits in JPsA, especially in patients who either have not responded to or have contraindications to treatment with anti-TNF agents.

Finally, because skin disease predates joint disease in almost 90% of PsA patients, identifying predictors for the development of joint disease is of considerable interest. It is hoped that identifying such predictors will help dermatologists and primary care physicians stratify management such that those at higher risk are carefully followed up for early diagnosis or even preventive therapy.

To identify such predictors, Ogdie and colleagues conducted a prospective study of 1489 patients with psoriasis and no prior diagnosis of PsA from the CorEvitas Psoriasis registry. They demonstrated that 10% of patients with psoriasis developed PsA after 2 years. Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST, a brief screening questionnaire for PsA) and body mass index (BMI) were important factors predicting the development of PsA. Although the incidence of PsA in this cohort is higher than that reported from other studies, the study indicates that PEST and BMI should be important factors that predict PsA and should be variables in any prediction model.

Recent publications on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have focused on targeted therapies, particularly those targeting interleukin (IL) 17 and 23. Bimekizumab is a novel biologic that dually inhibits IL-17A and IL-17F. Coates and colleagues reported 3-year results from the phase 2b BE ACTIVE trial that included 206 adults with active PsA randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab or placebo for 48 weeks, of which 184 patients were enrolled in the open-label extension phase for a further 104 weeks of treatment. They report that at least 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology score was maintained by 64.1% of patients at week 152 compared with 72.3% of patients at week 48. By week 152, 89.3% of patients had reported one or more treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), with serious TEAE being reported by 10.7% of patients. Fungal infections are of special interest when inhibiting both IL-17A and IL-17F. It was observed that 9.7% had fungal infections (all mild-to-moderate and localized), of which 4.6% had candidiasis. Thus, bimekizumab shows promise as a new therapy for PsA.

In addition to improving signs and symptoms, clinically meaningful improvement in health-related quality of life is an important goal of treatment. Two studies reported improvement in patient reported outcomes on treatment with IL-23 inhibitors.

An analysis of data from the phase 3 DISCOVER 2 trial included 738 biologic-naive patients with active PsA and inadequate response to standard treatments. These patients were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg guselkumab every 4 weeks (Q4W) or every 8 weeks (Q8W) or placebo. Curtis and colleagues showed that a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving guselkumab Q4W/Q8W vs placebo reported achieving minimally important differences (MID) in the EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) Index (56.0%/56.0% vs 43.4%; P < .006) and Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) score (62.8%/63.5% vs 44.4%; P < .0001) at week 24, with more than 60% of patients reporting improvements at week 52.

Similarly, analyses of data by Kristensen and colleagues from two phase 3 trials, KEEPsAKE-1 and KEEPsAKE-2, included adults with PsA and inadequate response/intolerance to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or biologics. The patients were randomly assigned to receive risankizumab or placebo for 24 weeks and only risankizumab during weeks 24-52. At week 24, patients receiving risankizumab vs placebo were significantly more likely to report achieving MID in Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA) in both KEEPsAKE-1 (odds ratio [OR] 2.0; P < .001) and KEEPsAKE-2 (OR 1.9; P < .01) studies, with further improvement at week 52. Improvement was also seen on the Patient's Assessment of Pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire – Disability Index, Short-Form 36 Physical and Mental Component Summary scores, EQ-5D-5L, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Fatigue, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment.

An interesting insight from two studies showed the importance of nail disease in predicting treatment response. A post hoc analysis by Helliwell and colleagues of the phase 3 SEAM-PsA trial of 851 biologic/methotrexate-naive patients with active PsA who were randomly assigned to receive methotrexate monotherapy, etanercept monotherapy, or methotrexate + etanercept combination therapy showed that the presence of both dactylitis and nail disease at baseline were significantly associated with the achievement of minimal disease activity (OR 1.4; P = .0457; and OR 1.8; P = .0233, respectively), as well as low PsA Disease Activity Score (OR 1.8; P = .0014; and OR 1.8; P = .0168, respectively).

Similarly, a post hoc analysis by Baraliakos and colleagues of the phase 3b MAXIMISE trial of 473 adult patients with PsA and axial manifestations who were randomly assigned to receive secukinumab (150 or 300 mg) or placebo showed that the presence vs the absence of nail dystrophy was associated with the achievement of significantly better Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society 20 response in the 300 mg secukinumab group (OR 5.0; 95% CI 1.47-17.19).

Recent publications on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have focused on targeted therapies, particularly those targeting interleukin (IL) 17 and 23. Bimekizumab is a novel biologic that dually inhibits IL-17A and IL-17F. Coates and colleagues reported 3-year results from the phase 2b BE ACTIVE trial that included 206 adults with active PsA randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab or placebo for 48 weeks, of which 184 patients were enrolled in the open-label extension phase for a further 104 weeks of treatment. They report that at least 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology score was maintained by 64.1% of patients at week 152 compared with 72.3% of patients at week 48. By week 152, 89.3% of patients had reported one or more treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), with serious TEAE being reported by 10.7% of patients. Fungal infections are of special interest when inhibiting both IL-17A and IL-17F. It was observed that 9.7% had fungal infections (all mild-to-moderate and localized), of which 4.6% had candidiasis. Thus, bimekizumab shows promise as a new therapy for PsA.

In addition to improving signs and symptoms, clinically meaningful improvement in health-related quality of life is an important goal of treatment. Two studies reported improvement in patient reported outcomes on treatment with IL-23 inhibitors.

An analysis of data from the phase 3 DISCOVER 2 trial included 738 biologic-naive patients with active PsA and inadequate response to standard treatments. These patients were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg guselkumab every 4 weeks (Q4W) or every 8 weeks (Q8W) or placebo. Curtis and colleagues showed that a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving guselkumab Q4W/Q8W vs placebo reported achieving minimally important differences (MID) in the EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) Index (56.0%/56.0% vs 43.4%; P < .006) and Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) score (62.8%/63.5% vs 44.4%; P < .0001) at week 24, with more than 60% of patients reporting improvements at week 52.

Similarly, analyses of data by Kristensen and colleagues from two phase 3 trials, KEEPsAKE-1 and KEEPsAKE-2, included adults with PsA and inadequate response/intolerance to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or biologics. The patients were randomly assigned to receive risankizumab or placebo for 24 weeks and only risankizumab during weeks 24-52. At week 24, patients receiving risankizumab vs placebo were significantly more likely to report achieving MID in Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA) in both KEEPsAKE-1 (odds ratio [OR] 2.0; P < .001) and KEEPsAKE-2 (OR 1.9; P < .01) studies, with further improvement at week 52. Improvement was also seen on the Patient's Assessment of Pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire – Disability Index, Short-Form 36 Physical and Mental Component Summary scores, EQ-5D-5L, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Fatigue, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment.

An interesting insight from two studies showed the importance of nail disease in predicting treatment response. A post hoc analysis by Helliwell and colleagues of the phase 3 SEAM-PsA trial of 851 biologic/methotrexate-naive patients with active PsA who were randomly assigned to receive methotrexate monotherapy, etanercept monotherapy, or methotrexate + etanercept combination therapy showed that the presence of both dactylitis and nail disease at baseline were significantly associated with the achievement of minimal disease activity (OR 1.4; P = .0457; and OR 1.8; P = .0233, respectively), as well as low PsA Disease Activity Score (OR 1.8; P = .0014; and OR 1.8; P = .0168, respectively).

Similarly, a post hoc analysis by Baraliakos and colleagues of the phase 3b MAXIMISE trial of 473 adult patients with PsA and axial manifestations who were randomly assigned to receive secukinumab (150 or 300 mg) or placebo showed that the presence vs the absence of nail dystrophy was associated with the achievement of significantly better Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society 20 response in the 300 mg secukinumab group (OR 5.0; 95% CI 1.47-17.19).

Recent publications on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have focused on targeted therapies, particularly those targeting interleukin (IL) 17 and 23. Bimekizumab is a novel biologic that dually inhibits IL-17A and IL-17F. Coates and colleagues reported 3-year results from the phase 2b BE ACTIVE trial that included 206 adults with active PsA randomly assigned to receive bimekizumab or placebo for 48 weeks, of which 184 patients were enrolled in the open-label extension phase for a further 104 weeks of treatment. They report that at least 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology score was maintained by 64.1% of patients at week 152 compared with 72.3% of patients at week 48. By week 152, 89.3% of patients had reported one or more treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE), with serious TEAE being reported by 10.7% of patients. Fungal infections are of special interest when inhibiting both IL-17A and IL-17F. It was observed that 9.7% had fungal infections (all mild-to-moderate and localized), of which 4.6% had candidiasis. Thus, bimekizumab shows promise as a new therapy for PsA.

In addition to improving signs and symptoms, clinically meaningful improvement in health-related quality of life is an important goal of treatment. Two studies reported improvement in patient reported outcomes on treatment with IL-23 inhibitors.

An analysis of data from the phase 3 DISCOVER 2 trial included 738 biologic-naive patients with active PsA and inadequate response to standard treatments. These patients were randomly assigned to receive 100 mg guselkumab every 4 weeks (Q4W) or every 8 weeks (Q8W) or placebo. Curtis and colleagues showed that a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving guselkumab Q4W/Q8W vs placebo reported achieving minimally important differences (MID) in the EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) Index (56.0%/56.0% vs 43.4%; P < .006) and Visual Analog Scale (EQ-VAS) score (62.8%/63.5% vs 44.4%; P < .0001) at week 24, with more than 60% of patients reporting improvements at week 52.

Similarly, analyses of data by Kristensen and colleagues from two phase 3 trials, KEEPsAKE-1 and KEEPsAKE-2, included adults with PsA and inadequate response/intolerance to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or biologics. The patients were randomly assigned to receive risankizumab or placebo for 24 weeks and only risankizumab during weeks 24-52. At week 24, patients receiving risankizumab vs placebo were significantly more likely to report achieving MID in Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA) in both KEEPsAKE-1 (odds ratio [OR] 2.0; P < .001) and KEEPsAKE-2 (OR 1.9; P < .01) studies, with further improvement at week 52. Improvement was also seen on the Patient's Assessment of Pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire – Disability Index, Short-Form 36 Physical and Mental Component Summary scores, EQ-5D-5L, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Fatigue, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment.

An interesting insight from two studies showed the importance of nail disease in predicting treatment response. A post hoc analysis by Helliwell and colleagues of the phase 3 SEAM-PsA trial of 851 biologic/methotrexate-naive patients with active PsA who were randomly assigned to receive methotrexate monotherapy, etanercept monotherapy, or methotrexate + etanercept combination therapy showed that the presence of both dactylitis and nail disease at baseline were significantly associated with the achievement of minimal disease activity (OR 1.4; P = .0457; and OR 1.8; P = .0233, respectively), as well as low PsA Disease Activity Score (OR 1.8; P = .0014; and OR 1.8; P = .0168, respectively).

Similarly, a post hoc analysis by Baraliakos and colleagues of the phase 3b MAXIMISE trial of 473 adult patients with PsA and axial manifestations who were randomly assigned to receive secukinumab (150 or 300 mg) or placebo showed that the presence vs the absence of nail dystrophy was associated with the achievement of significantly better Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society 20 response in the 300 mg secukinumab group (OR 5.0; 95% CI 1.47-17.19).

Biomechanical stress and trauma are important factors driving the development and progression of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). On the other hand, physical exercise is beneficial for patients with arthritis. However, there is concern that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may worsen PsA. Hypothesizing that bone marrow edema changes could occur in patients with PsA after HIIT despite no reported changes in disease activity by clinical examination, Chronaiou and colleagues aimed to assess whether HIIT in PsA patients led to MRI-detectable changes in the axial skeleton. Comparing 19 PsA patients who went through 11 weeks of HIIT with 20 patients who had no change in physical exercise habits, they found no significant changes in bone marrow edema on MRI images of the spine after HIIT. Thus, the 11-week HIIT regimen may be safe in PsA.

Mental health problems are often underestimated in psoriatic disease. Lada and colleagues aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression in patients with psoriatic disease and determine whether PsA is associated with higher depression and anxiety in patients with psoriasis. Analyzing data from British Association of Dermatologists Biologic and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR) participants (540 with psoriasis and 167 with both psoriasis and PsA) who had completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), they found that the prevalence of depression was higher in patients with PsA (32%) than in patients without PsA (22.7%) using a HADS cutoff of 8 (odds ratio 1.66; 95% CI 1.13--2.43). Pain mediated the effect of PsA on depression and anxiety.

Inhibitors of interleukin (IL)-23 are safe and efficacious in the treatment of psoriasis and PsA. However, changes in composite PsA indices have not been investigated in detail. Using pooled data from the phase 3 DISCOVER-1 (n = 381) and DISCOVER-2 (n = 739) studies, Coates and colleagues demonstrated that a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving guselkumab every 4 or 8 weeks vs placebo achieved low disease activity according to the Disease Activity Index for PsA (DAPSA) at week 8 (19.8%/17.3% vs 8.1%), DAPSA remission at week 12 (4.3%/4.3% vs 0.5%), minimal disease activity at week 16 (14.7%/16.5% vs 4.6%; all P < .001), and very low disease activity at week 24 (6.4%/4.3% vs 1.3%; P < .05), with improvements maintained until week 52. Thus, compared with placebo, treatment with guselkumab leads to early and sustained benefits for patients with PsA.

Similarly, Ostor and colleagues demonstrated in the phase 3 KEEPsAKE2 trial, which included 443 patients with PsA, that, at week 24, patients receiving risankizumab report a significantly greater improvement in the mean pain index score (-14.7 vs -6.5; P < .001), fatigue score (4.9 vs 2.6; P < .01), patient's global assessment of disease activity (-16.5 vs -7.7; P < .001), general health status (0.09 vs 0.01; P < .001), and physical functioning (5.1 vs 2.0; P < .001) compared with placebo.

In another study, treatment with bimekizumab, an inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F, was associated with sustained improvement in patient-reported outcomes. Mease and colleagues report that, at week 48, there was a substantial improvement in mean arthritis pain (29.9 points), fatigue (2.4 points), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (0.43 points), and Physical Component Summary score (9.1 points), with improvements sustained till week 152. High proportions of patients achieved the Patient Acceptable Symptom State at weeks 48 (75.2%) and 152 (65.0%). Thus, inhibitors of IL-23 and IL-17 have established efficacy in the treatment of PsA.

Biomechanical stress and trauma are important factors driving the development and progression of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). On the other hand, physical exercise is beneficial for patients with arthritis. However, there is concern that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may worsen PsA. Hypothesizing that bone marrow edema changes could occur in patients with PsA after HIIT despite no reported changes in disease activity by clinical examination, Chronaiou and colleagues aimed to assess whether HIIT in PsA patients led to MRI-detectable changes in the axial skeleton. Comparing 19 PsA patients who went through 11 weeks of HIIT with 20 patients who had no change in physical exercise habits, they found no significant changes in bone marrow edema on MRI images of the spine after HIIT. Thus, the 11-week HIIT regimen may be safe in PsA.

Mental health problems are often underestimated in psoriatic disease. Lada and colleagues aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression in patients with psoriatic disease and determine whether PsA is associated with higher depression and anxiety in patients with psoriasis. Analyzing data from British Association of Dermatologists Biologic and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR) participants (540 with psoriasis and 167 with both psoriasis and PsA) who had completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), they found that the prevalence of depression was higher in patients with PsA (32%) than in patients without PsA (22.7%) using a HADS cutoff of 8 (odds ratio 1.66; 95% CI 1.13--2.43). Pain mediated the effect of PsA on depression and anxiety.

Inhibitors of interleukin (IL)-23 are safe and efficacious in the treatment of psoriasis and PsA. However, changes in composite PsA indices have not been investigated in detail. Using pooled data from the phase 3 DISCOVER-1 (n = 381) and DISCOVER-2 (n = 739) studies, Coates and colleagues demonstrated that a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving guselkumab every 4 or 8 weeks vs placebo achieved low disease activity according to the Disease Activity Index for PsA (DAPSA) at week 8 (19.8%/17.3% vs 8.1%), DAPSA remission at week 12 (4.3%/4.3% vs 0.5%), minimal disease activity at week 16 (14.7%/16.5% vs 4.6%; all P < .001), and very low disease activity at week 24 (6.4%/4.3% vs 1.3%; P < .05), with improvements maintained until week 52. Thus, compared with placebo, treatment with guselkumab leads to early and sustained benefits for patients with PsA.

Similarly, Ostor and colleagues demonstrated in the phase 3 KEEPsAKE2 trial, which included 443 patients with PsA, that, at week 24, patients receiving risankizumab report a significantly greater improvement in the mean pain index score (-14.7 vs -6.5; P < .001), fatigue score (4.9 vs 2.6; P < .01), patient's global assessment of disease activity (-16.5 vs -7.7; P < .001), general health status (0.09 vs 0.01; P < .001), and physical functioning (5.1 vs 2.0; P < .001) compared with placebo.

In another study, treatment with bimekizumab, an inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F, was associated with sustained improvement in patient-reported outcomes. Mease and colleagues report that, at week 48, there was a substantial improvement in mean arthritis pain (29.9 points), fatigue (2.4 points), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (0.43 points), and Physical Component Summary score (9.1 points), with improvements sustained till week 152. High proportions of patients achieved the Patient Acceptable Symptom State at weeks 48 (75.2%) and 152 (65.0%). Thus, inhibitors of IL-23 and IL-17 have established efficacy in the treatment of PsA.

Biomechanical stress and trauma are important factors driving the development and progression of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). On the other hand, physical exercise is beneficial for patients with arthritis. However, there is concern that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may worsen PsA. Hypothesizing that bone marrow edema changes could occur in patients with PsA after HIIT despite no reported changes in disease activity by clinical examination, Chronaiou and colleagues aimed to assess whether HIIT in PsA patients led to MRI-detectable changes in the axial skeleton. Comparing 19 PsA patients who went through 11 weeks of HIIT with 20 patients who had no change in physical exercise habits, they found no significant changes in bone marrow edema on MRI images of the spine after HIIT. Thus, the 11-week HIIT regimen may be safe in PsA.

Mental health problems are often underestimated in psoriatic disease. Lada and colleagues aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression in patients with psoriatic disease and determine whether PsA is associated with higher depression and anxiety in patients with psoriasis. Analyzing data from British Association of Dermatologists Biologic and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR) participants (540 with psoriasis and 167 with both psoriasis and PsA) who had completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), they found that the prevalence of depression was higher in patients with PsA (32%) than in patients without PsA (22.7%) using a HADS cutoff of 8 (odds ratio 1.66; 95% CI 1.13--2.43). Pain mediated the effect of PsA on depression and anxiety.

Inhibitors of interleukin (IL)-23 are safe and efficacious in the treatment of psoriasis and PsA. However, changes in composite PsA indices have not been investigated in detail. Using pooled data from the phase 3 DISCOVER-1 (n = 381) and DISCOVER-2 (n = 739) studies, Coates and colleagues demonstrated that a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving guselkumab every 4 or 8 weeks vs placebo achieved low disease activity according to the Disease Activity Index for PsA (DAPSA) at week 8 (19.8%/17.3% vs 8.1%), DAPSA remission at week 12 (4.3%/4.3% vs 0.5%), minimal disease activity at week 16 (14.7%/16.5% vs 4.6%; all P < .001), and very low disease activity at week 24 (6.4%/4.3% vs 1.3%; P < .05), with improvements maintained until week 52. Thus, compared with placebo, treatment with guselkumab leads to early and sustained benefits for patients with PsA.

Similarly, Ostor and colleagues demonstrated in the phase 3 KEEPsAKE2 trial, which included 443 patients with PsA, that, at week 24, patients receiving risankizumab report a significantly greater improvement in the mean pain index score (-14.7 vs -6.5; P < .001), fatigue score (4.9 vs 2.6; P < .01), patient's global assessment of disease activity (-16.5 vs -7.7; P < .001), general health status (0.09 vs 0.01; P < .001), and physical functioning (5.1 vs 2.0; P < .001) compared with placebo.

In another study, treatment with bimekizumab, an inhibitor of IL-17A and IL-17F, was associated with sustained improvement in patient-reported outcomes. Mease and colleagues report that, at week 48, there was a substantial improvement in mean arthritis pain (29.9 points), fatigue (2.4 points), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (0.43 points), and Physical Component Summary score (9.1 points), with improvements sustained till week 152. High proportions of patients achieved the Patient Acceptable Symptom State at weeks 48 (75.2%) and 152 (65.0%). Thus, inhibitors of IL-23 and IL-17 have established efficacy in the treatment of PsA.

Inhibition of the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway by JAK inhibitors is efficacious in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). On the basis of the results of the pivotal SELECT-PsA 1 and SELECT-PsA 2 trials, upadacitinib, a selective JAK1 inhibitor, was recently approved for the treatment of PsA. However, data on longer-term disease control is still of interest. In a post hoc analysis of SELECT-PsA 1 and SELECT-PsA 2, Mease and colleagues assessed the proportion of patients achieving low disease activity or remission, as defined by validated measures such as the Disease Activity Index in Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Scores, and minimal disease activity at 24 and 56 weeks. They showed that at week 24,a higher proportion of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib vs placebo achieved low disease activityon the Disease Activity Index in Psoriatic Arthritis (range, 35%-48% vs 4%-16%; P< .05) and remission (range, 7%-11% vs 0%-3%; P< .05), with the responses sustained until week 56. Thus, upadacitinib provides sustained disease control in PsA and is an effective oral therapy.

Advanced targeted therapies have proven safety and efficacy over conventional therapies, often dramatically improving signs and symptoms. However, it is also desirable that such expensive therapies also show benefit in other outcomes, such as work productivity and quality of life. To evaluate work productivity and daily activity impairment and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, n=95;PsA,n=69, and axial spondyloarthritis, n=95) treated with golimumab, Dejaco and colleagues conducted a prospective, multicenter study in Austria. A total of 110 of these patients were followed for 24 months. At 24 months after golimumab initiation, there was significant improvement in total work productivity, presenteeism, activity impairment, and quality-of-life scores. Thus, golimumab, in addition to reducing disease activity, improved work productivity, activity, and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major comorbidity in patients with PsA. This observation was once again confirmed in an observational, cross-sectional, case-control study including 207 patients with PsA and 414 matched controls from France. Degboe and colleagues demonstrated that patients with PsA had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors, such as high body mass index, triglyceride level, and hypertension, compared with controls. The proportion of patients with PsA who were estimated to have very high cardiovascular risk factors (≥10%) increased when SCORE (European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) and QRISK2 (British Heart Foundation) equations considered the additional risk attributable to PsA. However, risk predictions scores such as SCORE and QRISK2 perform poorly in patients with PsA. To identify novel inflammatory and metabolic parameters associated with cardiovascular disease, Schwartz and colleagues looked at¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG) PET-CT uptakeina cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study including 39 patients with biologic-treatment-naive PsA and 56 age-sex matched controls without PsA. They found that coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly associated with visceral adiposity and FDG uptake in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Thus, inflammatory and metabolic parameters, including visceral adiposity, potentially contribute to subclinical CAD in patients with PsA and may in the future be used to refine CVD risk and be targets for CAD preventive treatments.

Inhibition of the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway by JAK inhibitors is efficacious in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). On the basis of the results of the pivotal SELECT-PsA 1 and SELECT-PsA 2 trials, upadacitinib, a selective JAK1 inhibitor, was recently approved for the treatment of PsA. However, data on longer-term disease control is still of interest. In a post hoc analysis of SELECT-PsA 1 and SELECT-PsA 2, Mease and colleagues assessed the proportion of patients achieving low disease activity or remission, as defined by validated measures such as the Disease Activity Index in Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Scores, and minimal disease activity at 24 and 56 weeks. They showed that at week 24,a higher proportion of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib vs placebo achieved low disease activityon the Disease Activity Index in Psoriatic Arthritis (range, 35%-48% vs 4%-16%; P< .05) and remission (range, 7%-11% vs 0%-3%; P< .05), with the responses sustained until week 56. Thus, upadacitinib provides sustained disease control in PsA and is an effective oral therapy.

Advanced targeted therapies have proven safety and efficacy over conventional therapies, often dramatically improving signs and symptoms. However, it is also desirable that such expensive therapies also show benefit in other outcomes, such as work productivity and quality of life. To evaluate work productivity and daily activity impairment and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, n=95;PsA,n=69, and axial spondyloarthritis, n=95) treated with golimumab, Dejaco and colleagues conducted a prospective, multicenter study in Austria. A total of 110 of these patients were followed for 24 months. At 24 months after golimumab initiation, there was significant improvement in total work productivity, presenteeism, activity impairment, and quality-of-life scores. Thus, golimumab, in addition to reducing disease activity, improved work productivity, activity, and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major comorbidity in patients with PsA. This observation was once again confirmed in an observational, cross-sectional, case-control study including 207 patients with PsA and 414 matched controls from France. Degboe and colleagues demonstrated that patients with PsA had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors, such as high body mass index, triglyceride level, and hypertension, compared with controls. The proportion of patients with PsA who were estimated to have very high cardiovascular risk factors (≥10%) increased when SCORE (European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) and QRISK2 (British Heart Foundation) equations considered the additional risk attributable to PsA. However, risk predictions scores such as SCORE and QRISK2 perform poorly in patients with PsA. To identify novel inflammatory and metabolic parameters associated with cardiovascular disease, Schwartz and colleagues looked at¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG) PET-CT uptakeina cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study including 39 patients with biologic-treatment-naive PsA and 56 age-sex matched controls without PsA. They found that coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly associated with visceral adiposity and FDG uptake in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Thus, inflammatory and metabolic parameters, including visceral adiposity, potentially contribute to subclinical CAD in patients with PsA and may in the future be used to refine CVD risk and be targets for CAD preventive treatments.

Inhibition of the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway by JAK inhibitors is efficacious in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). On the basis of the results of the pivotal SELECT-PsA 1 and SELECT-PsA 2 trials, upadacitinib, a selective JAK1 inhibitor, was recently approved for the treatment of PsA. However, data on longer-term disease control is still of interest. In a post hoc analysis of SELECT-PsA 1 and SELECT-PsA 2, Mease and colleagues assessed the proportion of patients achieving low disease activity or remission, as defined by validated measures such as the Disease Activity Index in Psoriatic Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Scores, and minimal disease activity at 24 and 56 weeks. They showed that at week 24,a higher proportion of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib vs placebo achieved low disease activityon the Disease Activity Index in Psoriatic Arthritis (range, 35%-48% vs 4%-16%; P< .05) and remission (range, 7%-11% vs 0%-3%; P< .05), with the responses sustained until week 56. Thus, upadacitinib provides sustained disease control in PsA and is an effective oral therapy.

Advanced targeted therapies have proven safety and efficacy over conventional therapies, often dramatically improving signs and symptoms. However, it is also desirable that such expensive therapies also show benefit in other outcomes, such as work productivity and quality of life. To evaluate work productivity and daily activity impairment and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, n=95;PsA,n=69, and axial spondyloarthritis, n=95) treated with golimumab, Dejaco and colleagues conducted a prospective, multicenter study in Austria. A total of 110 of these patients were followed for 24 months. At 24 months after golimumab initiation, there was significant improvement in total work productivity, presenteeism, activity impairment, and quality-of-life scores. Thus, golimumab, in addition to reducing disease activity, improved work productivity, activity, and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major comorbidity in patients with PsA. This observation was once again confirmed in an observational, cross-sectional, case-control study including 207 patients with PsA and 414 matched controls from France. Degboe and colleagues demonstrated that patients with PsA had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors, such as high body mass index, triglyceride level, and hypertension, compared with controls. The proportion of patients with PsA who were estimated to have very high cardiovascular risk factors (≥10%) increased when SCORE (European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) and QRISK2 (British Heart Foundation) equations considered the additional risk attributable to PsA. However, risk predictions scores such as SCORE and QRISK2 perform poorly in patients with PsA. To identify novel inflammatory and metabolic parameters associated with cardiovascular disease, Schwartz and colleagues looked at¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose(FDG) PET-CT uptakeina cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study including 39 patients with biologic-treatment-naive PsA and 56 age-sex matched controls without PsA. They found that coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly associated with visceral adiposity and FDG uptake in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Thus, inflammatory and metabolic parameters, including visceral adiposity, potentially contribute to subclinical CAD in patients with PsA and may in the future be used to refine CVD risk and be targets for CAD preventive treatments.

Advanced targeted therapies have proven safety and efficacy over conventional therapies, often dramatically improving signs and symptoms. However, it is also desirable that such expensive therapies also show benefit in other outcomes, such as work productivity and quality of life. To evaluate work productivity and daily activity impairment and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, n = 95; PsA, n = 69, and axial spondyloarthritis, n = 95) treated with golimumab, Dejaco and colleagues conducted a prospective, multicenter study in Austria. A total of 110 of these patients were followed for 24 months. At 24 months after golimumab initiation, there was significant improvement in total work productivity, presenteeism, activity impairment, and quality-of-life scores. Thus, golimumab, in addition to reducing disease activity, improved work productivity, activity, and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major comorbidity in patients with PsA. This observation was once again confirmed in an observational, cross-sectional, case-control study including 207 patients with PsA and 414 matched controls from France. Degboe and colleagues demonstrated that patients with PsA had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors, such as high body mass index, triglyceride level, and hypertension, compared with controls. The proportion of patients with PsA who were estimated to have very high cardiovascular risk factors (≥ 10%) increased when SCORE (European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) and QRISK2 (British Heart Foundation) equations considered the additional risk attributable to PsA. However, risk predictions scores such as SCORE and QRISK2 perform poorly in patients with PsA. To identify novel inflammatory and metabolic parameters associated with cardiovascular disease, Schwartz and colleagues looked at ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT uptake in a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study including 39 patients with biologic-treatment-naive PsA and 56 age-sex matched controls without PsA. They found that coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly associated with visceral adiposity and FDG uptake in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Thus, inflammatory and metabolic parameters, including visceral adiposity, potentially contribute to subclinical CAD in patients with PsA and may in the future be used to refine CVD risk and be targets for CAD preventive treatments.

Advanced targeted therapies have proven safety and efficacy over conventional therapies, often dramatically improving signs and symptoms. However, it is also desirable that such expensive therapies also show benefit in other outcomes, such as work productivity and quality of life. To evaluate work productivity and daily activity impairment and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, n = 95; PsA, n = 69, and axial spondyloarthritis, n = 95) treated with golimumab, Dejaco and colleagues conducted a prospective, multicenter study in Austria. A total of 110 of these patients were followed for 24 months. At 24 months after golimumab initiation, there was significant improvement in total work productivity, presenteeism, activity impairment, and quality-of-life scores. Thus, golimumab, in addition to reducing disease activity, improved work productivity, activity, and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major comorbidity in patients with PsA. This observation was once again confirmed in an observational, cross-sectional, case-control study including 207 patients with PsA and 414 matched controls from France. Degboe and colleagues demonstrated that patients with PsA had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors, such as high body mass index, triglyceride level, and hypertension, compared with controls. The proportion of patients with PsA who were estimated to have very high cardiovascular risk factors (≥ 10%) increased when SCORE (European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) and QRISK2 (British Heart Foundation) equations considered the additional risk attributable to PsA. However, risk predictions scores such as SCORE and QRISK2 perform poorly in patients with PsA. To identify novel inflammatory and metabolic parameters associated with cardiovascular disease, Schwartz and colleagues looked at ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT uptake in a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study including 39 patients with biologic-treatment-naive PsA and 56 age-sex matched controls without PsA. They found that coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly associated with visceral adiposity and FDG uptake in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Thus, inflammatory and metabolic parameters, including visceral adiposity, potentially contribute to subclinical CAD in patients with PsA and may in the future be used to refine CVD risk and be targets for CAD preventive treatments.

Advanced targeted therapies have proven safety and efficacy over conventional therapies, often dramatically improving signs and symptoms. However, it is also desirable that such expensive therapies also show benefit in other outcomes, such as work productivity and quality of life. To evaluate work productivity and daily activity impairment and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, n = 95; PsA, n = 69, and axial spondyloarthritis, n = 95) treated with golimumab, Dejaco and colleagues conducted a prospective, multicenter study in Austria. A total of 110 of these patients were followed for 24 months. At 24 months after golimumab initiation, there was significant improvement in total work productivity, presenteeism, activity impairment, and quality-of-life scores. Thus, golimumab, in addition to reducing disease activity, improved work productivity, activity, and health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory arthritis, including PsA.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a major comorbidity in patients with PsA. This observation was once again confirmed in an observational, cross-sectional, case-control study including 207 patients with PsA and 414 matched controls from France. Degboe and colleagues demonstrated that patients with PsA had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors, such as high body mass index, triglyceride level, and hypertension, compared with controls. The proportion of patients with PsA who were estimated to have very high cardiovascular risk factors (≥ 10%) increased when SCORE (European Society of Cardiology Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation) and QRISK2 (British Heart Foundation) equations considered the additional risk attributable to PsA. However, risk predictions scores such as SCORE and QRISK2 perform poorly in patients with PsA. To identify novel inflammatory and metabolic parameters associated with cardiovascular disease, Schwartz and colleagues looked at ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT uptake in a cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study including 39 patients with biologic-treatment-naive PsA and 56 age-sex matched controls without PsA. They found that coronary artery disease (CAD) was significantly associated with visceral adiposity and FDG uptake in the bone marrow, liver, spleen, and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Thus, inflammatory and metabolic parameters, including visceral adiposity, potentially contribute to subclinical CAD in patients with PsA and may in the future be used to refine CVD risk and be targets for CAD preventive treatments.

Infections have long been identified as possible triggers for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) onset. Thrastardottir and colleagues evaluated the association between sites where the culture sample was obtained, the culture result, and pathogens and incident PsA and psoriasis. They obtained data on all samples sent for bacterial culture in the Stockholm region of Sweden (313,235 bacterial cultures from 128,982 individuals) from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006. Among all samples sent for culture, a pharyngeal sample was associated with a higher risk for PsA onset within the next 50 days compared with urine (hazard ratio [HR] 8.78; 95% CI 3.23-23.91), nasopharyngeal (HR 8.26; 95% CI 2.23-30.63), or blood (HR 25.22; 95% CI 3.12-204.13) samples. Streptococcal infections in the pharynx or at any other site were not associated with an increased risk for PsA. Similar associations were found for psoriasis, but not for rheumatoid arthritis. These results indicate that having sent a pharyngeal sample for culture was associated with an increased risk for psoriatic disease onset, suggesting that the site of infection—rather than the pathogen—is associated with the increased risk. These intriguing results support the need to further study the role of site and type of infection and antibiotic use on psoriatic disease onset.

With regard to other risk factors for PsA, a meta-analysis by Pouw and colleagues looked at 29 studies including adult patients with psoriasis with or without concurrent PsA or adult patients with psoriasis who developed PsA. The analysis showed that the body surface area affected by psoriasis was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis and concurrent PsA vs patients with only psoriasis (mean difference 5.31; 95% CI 1.78-8.83). Severe psoriasis was a significant predictor of concurrent PsA (odds ratio 3.34; P < .001). Thus, optimum care of patients with PsA requires excellent collaboration between rheumatologists and dermatologists.

Factors such as sex and body mass index (BMI) are likely to have a role in PsA treatment response but have not been extensively evaluated. To address this issue, Mease and colleagues conducted a post hoc analysis of the phase 3 SEAM-PsA trial including 851 patients who were methotrexate (MTX)/biologics naive and had early PsA. They were randomly assigned to receive MTX + placebo, etanercept + placebo, or MTX + etanercept. The study demonstrated that at week 24 a higher proportion of men vs women receiving MTX + etanercept achieved the American College of Rheumatology 20% criteria (ACR20) (71.5% vs 58.3%; P = .0194) and minimal disease activity (MDA) (45.8% vs 25.2%; P = .0003). A higher proportion of patients with a BMI ≤ 30 vs > 30 in all treatment groups achieved MDA (all P < .05), and those in the MTX + etanercept group achieved ACR20 (P = .0241). Thus, men (vs women) and those with lower BMI experience significantly better outcomes with treatment. When counseling patients about response to treatment, sex and BMI need to be taken into consideration. Moreover, further research is required to confirm and identify the reasons underlying these findings and to optimize treatment outcomes.

Another post hoc study explored the association between baseline disease activity and achieving the treatment target in PsA. Mease and colleagues analysed data from the phase 3 PALACE 4 study including 175 patients who were disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)–naive and had active PsA. They received 30 mg apremilast twice daily. The study found that at week 52, remission or low disease activity according to the Clinical Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis was achieved in 61.7% of patients with moderate disease activity vs 28.2% of these with high disease activity at baseline. Thus, DMARD-naive patients with moderate (vs high) disease activity at baseline are more likely to achieve low disease activity after apremilast therapy.

Infections have long been identified as possible triggers for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) onset. Thrastardottir and colleagues evaluated the association between sites where the culture sample was obtained, the culture result, and pathogens and incident PsA and psoriasis. They obtained data on all samples sent for bacterial culture in the Stockholm region of Sweden (313,235 bacterial cultures from 128,982 individuals) from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006. Among all samples sent for culture, a pharyngeal sample was associated with a higher risk for PsA onset within the next 50 days compared with urine (hazard ratio [HR] 8.78; 95% CI 3.23-23.91), nasopharyngeal (HR 8.26; 95% CI 2.23-30.63), or blood (HR 25.22; 95% CI 3.12-204.13) samples. Streptococcal infections in the pharynx or at any other site were not associated with an increased risk for PsA. Similar associations were found for psoriasis, but not for rheumatoid arthritis. These results indicate that having sent a pharyngeal sample for culture was associated with an increased risk for psoriatic disease onset, suggesting that the site of infection—rather than the pathogen—is associated with the increased risk. These intriguing results support the need to further study the role of site and type of infection and antibiotic use on psoriatic disease onset.

With regard to other risk factors for PsA, a meta-analysis by Pouw and colleagues looked at 29 studies including adult patients with psoriasis with or without concurrent PsA or adult patients with psoriasis who developed PsA. The analysis showed that the body surface area affected by psoriasis was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis and concurrent PsA vs patients with only psoriasis (mean difference 5.31; 95% CI 1.78-8.83). Severe psoriasis was a significant predictor of concurrent PsA (odds ratio 3.34; P < .001). Thus, optimum care of patients with PsA requires excellent collaboration between rheumatologists and dermatologists.

Factors such as sex and body mass index (BMI) are likely to have a role in PsA treatment response but have not been extensively evaluated. To address this issue, Mease and colleagues conducted a post hoc analysis of the phase 3 SEAM-PsA trial including 851 patients who were methotrexate (MTX)/biologics naive and had early PsA. They were randomly assigned to receive MTX + placebo, etanercept + placebo, or MTX + etanercept. The study demonstrated that at week 24 a higher proportion of men vs women receiving MTX + etanercept achieved the American College of Rheumatology 20% criteria (ACR20) (71.5% vs 58.3%; P = .0194) and minimal disease activity (MDA) (45.8% vs 25.2%; P = .0003). A higher proportion of patients with a BMI ≤ 30 vs > 30 in all treatment groups achieved MDA (all P < .05), and those in the MTX + etanercept group achieved ACR20 (P = .0241). Thus, men (vs women) and those with lower BMI experience significantly better outcomes with treatment. When counseling patients about response to treatment, sex and BMI need to be taken into consideration. Moreover, further research is required to confirm and identify the reasons underlying these findings and to optimize treatment outcomes.

Another post hoc study explored the association between baseline disease activity and achieving the treatment target in PsA. Mease and colleagues analysed data from the phase 3 PALACE 4 study including 175 patients who were disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)–naive and had active PsA. They received 30 mg apremilast twice daily. The study found that at week 52, remission or low disease activity according to the Clinical Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis was achieved in 61.7% of patients with moderate disease activity vs 28.2% of these with high disease activity at baseline. Thus, DMARD-naive patients with moderate (vs high) disease activity at baseline are more likely to achieve low disease activity after apremilast therapy.

Infections have long been identified as possible triggers for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) onset. Thrastardottir and colleagues evaluated the association between sites where the culture sample was obtained, the culture result, and pathogens and incident PsA and psoriasis. They obtained data on all samples sent for bacterial culture in the Stockholm region of Sweden (313,235 bacterial cultures from 128,982 individuals) from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006. Among all samples sent for culture, a pharyngeal sample was associated with a higher risk for PsA onset within the next 50 days compared with urine (hazard ratio [HR] 8.78; 95% CI 3.23-23.91), nasopharyngeal (HR 8.26; 95% CI 2.23-30.63), or blood (HR 25.22; 95% CI 3.12-204.13) samples. Streptococcal infections in the pharynx or at any other site were not associated with an increased risk for PsA. Similar associations were found for psoriasis, but not for rheumatoid arthritis. These results indicate that having sent a pharyngeal sample for culture was associated with an increased risk for psoriatic disease onset, suggesting that the site of infection—rather than the pathogen—is associated with the increased risk. These intriguing results support the need to further study the role of site and type of infection and antibiotic use on psoriatic disease onset.

With regard to other risk factors for PsA, a meta-analysis by Pouw and colleagues looked at 29 studies including adult patients with psoriasis with or without concurrent PsA or adult patients with psoriasis who developed PsA. The analysis showed that the body surface area affected by psoriasis was significantly higher in patients with psoriasis and concurrent PsA vs patients with only psoriasis (mean difference 5.31; 95% CI 1.78-8.83). Severe psoriasis was a significant predictor of concurrent PsA (odds ratio 3.34; P < .001). Thus, optimum care of patients with PsA requires excellent collaboration between rheumatologists and dermatologists.

Factors such as sex and body mass index (BMI) are likely to have a role in PsA treatment response but have not been extensively evaluated. To address this issue, Mease and colleagues conducted a post hoc analysis of the phase 3 SEAM-PsA trial including 851 patients who were methotrexate (MTX)/biologics naive and had early PsA. They were randomly assigned to receive MTX + placebo, etanercept + placebo, or MTX + etanercept. The study demonstrated that at week 24 a higher proportion of men vs women receiving MTX + etanercept achieved the American College of Rheumatology 20% criteria (ACR20) (71.5% vs 58.3%; P = .0194) and minimal disease activity (MDA) (45.8% vs 25.2%; P = .0003). A higher proportion of patients with a BMI ≤ 30 vs > 30 in all treatment groups achieved MDA (all P < .05), and those in the MTX + etanercept group achieved ACR20 (P = .0241). Thus, men (vs women) and those with lower BMI experience significantly better outcomes with treatment. When counseling patients about response to treatment, sex and BMI need to be taken into consideration. Moreover, further research is required to confirm and identify the reasons underlying these findings and to optimize treatment outcomes.

Another post hoc study explored the association between baseline disease activity and achieving the treatment target in PsA. Mease and colleagues analysed data from the phase 3 PALACE 4 study including 175 patients who were disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)–naive and had active PsA. They received 30 mg apremilast twice daily. The study found that at week 52, remission or low disease activity according to the Clinical Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis was achieved in 61.7% of patients with moderate disease activity vs 28.2% of these with high disease activity at baseline. Thus, DMARD-naive patients with moderate (vs high) disease activity at baseline are more likely to achieve low disease activity after apremilast therapy.

Although most patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have concomitant psoriasis, many with PsA who are enrolled in clinic trials as well as in rheumatology clinic do not have severe psoriasis. Therefore, an unanswered question is how much psoriasis symptoms contribute to impaired quality of life (QOL) in PsA patients. This question was addressed in a recent study by Taylor and colleagues. This post hoc analysis of two phase 3 studies, OPAL Broaden and OPAL Beyond, included 816 patients with active PsA and an inadequate response to previous therapies who received tofacitinib, adalimumab, or placebo. The analyses demonstrated that Itch Severity Item (ISI) scores of 7-10, Physician's Global Assessment of Psoriasis (PGA-PsO) scores of 4, and Patient's Global Joint and Skin Assessment-Visual Analog Scale (PGJS-VAS) scores of 90-100 mm corresponded with Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores categorized as having a very large effect on a patient's life. An improvement of ≥ 3 points in ISI, ≥ 2 points in PGA-PsO, and ≥ 40 mm in PGJS-VAS translated to a clinically meaningful improvement in DLQI scores; improvements from baseline of ≥4/≥3/≥40-mm in the above scores, respectively, were also associated with clinically meaningful improvements across SF-36v2 (Short-Form Health Survey) domains. Thus, dermatologic symptoms are substantially associated with QOL in patients with active PsA, and improvements in skin measures could translate to clinically meaningful improvements in their QOL.

There is also increasing scrutiny on sex differences in PsA. Eder and colleagues conducted a post hoc analysis of two phase 3 trials that included 679 patients with active PsA who were either biologic-naive (SPIRIT-P1) or showed an inadequate response to one or two tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) (SPIRIT-P2) and were randomly assigned to receive ixekizumab, an IL-17A inhibitor (IL-17Ai), or placebo. They demonstrated that at baseline female vs male patients had significantly higher Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index scores (P ≤ .003), with a significantly higher proportion of male vs female patients in the ixekizumab every-4-weeks treatment arm (53.8% vs 38.3%) and ixekizumab every-2-weeks treatment arm(41.2% vs 28.1%) achieving ≥50% and ≥70% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology response criteria, respectively (both P < .05). Thus, female patients with PsA exhibited significantly higher disease activity at baseline and a poorer response to ixekizumab.

Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors have been shown to improve inflammatory and other types of pain in rheumatoid arthritis. To further evaluate the effect of inhibition of JAK1 on pain, McInnes and colleagues aimed to evaluate the effect of upadacitinib on pain outcomes in patients with active PsA or ankylosing spondylitis across three randomized trials (SELECT-PsA-1 and -2 for PsA; SELECT-AXIS 1 for ankylosing spondylitis). A significantly higher proportion of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib vs placebo achieved ≥30%, ≥50%, and ≥70% reductions in pain as early as 2 weeks (P < .05), with improvements sustained up to week 56. Further research on whether improvement in pain is at least partially independent of improvement in musculoskeletal inflammation is required.

Persistence of drug treatment is an important outcome and is a surrogate measure of safety and effectiveness. Vegas and colleagues assessed the long-term persistence of different biologic classes in a nationwide cohort study that included 16,892 adults with psoriasis and 6531 adults with PsA who initiated first-line treatment with a TNFi, IL-12/23 inhibitors (IL-12/23i), or an IL-17i. Treatment persistence was higher with IL-17i than with TNFi (weighted hazard ratio [HR] 0.70; P < .001) or IL-12/23i (weighted HR 0.69; P < .001); however, IL-12/23i and TNFi showed similar persistence (P = .70). Thus, IL-17i may be associated with higher treatment persistence in PsA compared with TNFi.

Although most patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have concomitant psoriasis, many with PsA who are enrolled in clinic trials as well as in rheumatology clinic do not have severe psoriasis. Therefore, an unanswered question is how much psoriasis symptoms contribute to impaired quality of life (QOL) in PsA patients. This question was addressed in a recent study by Taylor and colleagues. This post hoc analysis of two phase 3 studies, OPAL Broaden and OPAL Beyond, included 816 patients with active PsA and an inadequate response to previous therapies who received tofacitinib, adalimumab, or placebo. The analyses demonstrated that Itch Severity Item (ISI) scores of 7-10, Physician's Global Assessment of Psoriasis (PGA-PsO) scores of 4, and Patient's Global Joint and Skin Assessment-Visual Analog Scale (PGJS-VAS) scores of 90-100 mm corresponded with Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores categorized as having a very large effect on a patient's life. An improvement of ≥ 3 points in ISI, ≥ 2 points in PGA-PsO, and ≥ 40 mm in PGJS-VAS translated to a clinically meaningful improvement in DLQI scores; improvements from baseline of ≥4/≥3/≥40-mm in the above scores, respectively, were also associated with clinically meaningful improvements across SF-36v2 (Short-Form Health Survey) domains. Thus, dermatologic symptoms are substantially associated with QOL in patients with active PsA, and improvements in skin measures could translate to clinically meaningful improvements in their QOL.

There is also increasing scrutiny on sex differences in PsA. Eder and colleagues conducted a post hoc analysis of two phase 3 trials that included 679 patients with active PsA who were either biologic-naive (SPIRIT-P1) or showed an inadequate response to one or two tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) (SPIRIT-P2) and were randomly assigned to receive ixekizumab, an IL-17A inhibitor (IL-17Ai), or placebo. They demonstrated that at baseline female vs male patients had significantly higher Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index scores (P ≤ .003), with a significantly higher proportion of male vs female patients in the ixekizumab every-4-weeks treatment arm (53.8% vs 38.3%) and ixekizumab every-2-weeks treatment arm(41.2% vs 28.1%) achieving ≥50% and ≥70% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology response criteria, respectively (both P < .05). Thus, female patients with PsA exhibited significantly higher disease activity at baseline and a poorer response to ixekizumab.

Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors have been shown to improve inflammatory and other types of pain in rheumatoid arthritis. To further evaluate the effect of inhibition of JAK1 on pain, McInnes and colleagues aimed to evaluate the effect of upadacitinib on pain outcomes in patients with active PsA or ankylosing spondylitis across three randomized trials (SELECT-PsA-1 and -2 for PsA; SELECT-AXIS 1 for ankylosing spondylitis). A significantly higher proportion of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib vs placebo achieved ≥30%, ≥50%, and ≥70% reductions in pain as early as 2 weeks (P < .05), with improvements sustained up to week 56. Further research on whether improvement in pain is at least partially independent of improvement in musculoskeletal inflammation is required.

Persistence of drug treatment is an important outcome and is a surrogate measure of safety and effectiveness. Vegas and colleagues assessed the long-term persistence of different biologic classes in a nationwide cohort study that included 16,892 adults with psoriasis and 6531 adults with PsA who initiated first-line treatment with a TNFi, IL-12/23 inhibitors (IL-12/23i), or an IL-17i. Treatment persistence was higher with IL-17i than with TNFi (weighted hazard ratio [HR] 0.70; P < .001) or IL-12/23i (weighted HR 0.69; P < .001); however, IL-12/23i and TNFi showed similar persistence (P = .70). Thus, IL-17i may be associated with higher treatment persistence in PsA compared with TNFi.

Although most patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have concomitant psoriasis, many with PsA who are enrolled in clinic trials as well as in rheumatology clinic do not have severe psoriasis. Therefore, an unanswered question is how much psoriasis symptoms contribute to impaired quality of life (QOL) in PsA patients. This question was addressed in a recent study by Taylor and colleagues. This post hoc analysis of two phase 3 studies, OPAL Broaden and OPAL Beyond, included 816 patients with active PsA and an inadequate response to previous therapies who received tofacitinib, adalimumab, or placebo. The analyses demonstrated that Itch Severity Item (ISI) scores of 7-10, Physician's Global Assessment of Psoriasis (PGA-PsO) scores of 4, and Patient's Global Joint and Skin Assessment-Visual Analog Scale (PGJS-VAS) scores of 90-100 mm corresponded with Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores categorized as having a very large effect on a patient's life. An improvement of ≥ 3 points in ISI, ≥ 2 points in PGA-PsO, and ≥ 40 mm in PGJS-VAS translated to a clinically meaningful improvement in DLQI scores; improvements from baseline of ≥4/≥3/≥40-mm in the above scores, respectively, were also associated with clinically meaningful improvements across SF-36v2 (Short-Form Health Survey) domains. Thus, dermatologic symptoms are substantially associated with QOL in patients with active PsA, and improvements in skin measures could translate to clinically meaningful improvements in their QOL.

There is also increasing scrutiny on sex differences in PsA. Eder and colleagues conducted a post hoc analysis of two phase 3 trials that included 679 patients with active PsA who were either biologic-naive (SPIRIT-P1) or showed an inadequate response to one or two tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) (SPIRIT-P2) and were randomly assigned to receive ixekizumab, an IL-17A inhibitor (IL-17Ai), or placebo. They demonstrated that at baseline female vs male patients had significantly higher Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index scores (P ≤ .003), with a significantly higher proportion of male vs female patients in the ixekizumab every-4-weeks treatment arm (53.8% vs 38.3%) and ixekizumab every-2-weeks treatment arm(41.2% vs 28.1%) achieving ≥50% and ≥70% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology response criteria, respectively (both P < .05). Thus, female patients with PsA exhibited significantly higher disease activity at baseline and a poorer response to ixekizumab.

Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors have been shown to improve inflammatory and other types of pain in rheumatoid arthritis. To further evaluate the effect of inhibition of JAK1 on pain, McInnes and colleagues aimed to evaluate the effect of upadacitinib on pain outcomes in patients with active PsA or ankylosing spondylitis across three randomized trials (SELECT-PsA-1 and -2 for PsA; SELECT-AXIS 1 for ankylosing spondylitis). A significantly higher proportion of patients receiving 15 mg upadacitinib vs placebo achieved ≥30%, ≥50%, and ≥70% reductions in pain as early as 2 weeks (P < .05), with improvements sustained up to week 56. Further research on whether improvement in pain is at least partially independent of improvement in musculoskeletal inflammation is required.

Persistence of drug treatment is an important outcome and is a surrogate measure of safety and effectiveness. Vegas and colleagues assessed the long-term persistence of different biologic classes in a nationwide cohort study that included 16,892 adults with psoriasis and 6531 adults with PsA who initiated first-line treatment with a TNFi, IL-12/23 inhibitors (IL-12/23i), or an IL-17i. Treatment persistence was higher with IL-17i than with TNFi (weighted hazard ratio [HR] 0.70; P < .001) or IL-12/23i (weighted HR 0.69; P < .001); however, IL-12/23i and TNFi showed similar persistence (P = .70). Thus, IL-17i may be associated with higher treatment persistence in PsA compared with TNFi.