Background: Adalimumab is an anti-tumour necrosis factor agent of use in psoriatic arthritis.
Aim: The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of adalimumab in patients with plaque psoriasis unresponsive to previous therapies.
Methods: We present nine patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthropathy treated with adalimumab, including a woman with a history of breast cancer and a man with hepatitis C virus-related liver disease.
Results: After 12 weeks, 66.6%, 55.5% and 11.1% of the patients showed a Psoriasis Assessment and Severity Index response of 50%, 75% and 90%, respectively. After 20 weeks, these levels had increased to 75%, 62.5% and 37.5%, respectively. After 12 weeks, the Psoriasis Global Assessment (PGA) score was clear or almost clear in 33.3% of the patients. By week 20, this clearance rate had almost doubled (62.5%). In two patients, the treatment was prolonged for 52 weeks, with a sustained response. One patient presented nonspecific colitis and died as a result of in-hospital pneumonia; any implication of adalimumab in the death is not clear. No other serious adverse effects were observed.
Conclusion: In this series adalimumab was found to be effective for psoriasis refractory to other treatments including infliximab and etanercept.