Impact of obesity on the effectiveness of adalimumab for the treatment of psoriasis: a retrospective study of 30 patients in daily practice.

BACKGROUND

The relationship between obesity and psoriasis is probably bidirectional.

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether the effectiveness of adalimumab was affected by obesity in patients with psoriasis.

METHODS

Retrospective study of 30 adalimumab naïve patients (13 men, 17 women, mean age 49.5 years) with moderate to severe psoriasis. Response to treatment (PASI 50, 75, 90, 100) was assessed over the course of six clinical visits, with a median between 1.9 months for visit 1 and 20.8 months for visit 6 after the start of adalimumab treatment. Body mass index (BMI) was categorized as normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)) (n = 13), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m(2)) (n = 7), and obese (>30 kg/m(2)) (n = 10).

RESULTS

Patients were followed for a median of 17.2 months (minimum 2.7 months, maximum 34.4 months). The percentage of patients who were in complete remission (PASI 100) increased from 23.3% at visit 1 to 60% at visit 6. 70% of patients presented a PASI 90 response at visit 4 and this percentage remained unchanged at visits 5 and 6. Differences in response to adalimumab according to weight subgroups were not observed. The median time to achieve PASI 75, PASI 90 and PASI 100 responses was 20.1, 31.4 and 57.6 weeks, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Adalimumab proved to be effective for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis in daily practice. Obesity did not appear to affect the efficacy of adalimumab in terms of PASI response, although patients with a BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) discontinued treatment earlier.