EBioMedicine

Biologics reduce mortality and cardiovascular risk in patients with psoriasis

December 16, 2024

Study design: This retrospective cohort study utilized electronic health records (EHRs) from TriNetX to assess the impact of systemic treatments on all-cause mortality and CV disease risk in psoriasis patients. The study included treatment categories such as apremilast, IL-17 inhibitors (IL-17i), IL-23 inhibitors (IL-23i), TNF inhibitors (TNFi), and classic antipsoriatic drugs (methotrexate, cyclosporine, acitretin, dimethyl fumarate [the latter not approved for psoriasis treatment in the U.S.]).

Results: All-cause mortality rates were as follows: 0.61% for classic antipsoriatics, 0.91% for apremilast, 0.00% for IL-17i, 0.81% for IL-23i, and 0.20% for TNFi. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were documented in 8.49% (classic antipsoriatics), 5.14% (apremilast), 2.99% (IL-17i), 2.09% (IL-23i), and 3.74% (TNFi). Propensity-score matching indicated lower all-cause mortality (HR, 2.21, p = 0.0073) and MACE risk (HR, 1.66, p < 0.0001) with biologics compared with classic antipsoriatics or apremilast.

Impact on clinical practice: These findings suggest that biologic treatments may reduce the risk of death and CV disease in psoriasis patients. Authors call for prospective trials to confirm the findings.

Source:

Kridin K, et al. (2024, December 6). EBioMedicine. Biological, as opposed to classic antipsoriatic drug or apremilast, treatment mitigates the risk of death and cardiovascular disease in psoriasis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39644770/