Treating skin with biologics may reduce risk of developing PsA in patients with psoriasis

Key clinical point: Treating skin with biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) may reduce the risk of developing psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients with psoriasis.

Major finding: Patients with psoriasis had a significantly lower risk of developing PsA when treated with bDMARDs vs topics (incidence rate ratio, 0.26; P = .0111). The use of bDMARDs was also protective against PsA development compared with topical/no treatment (hazard ratio, 0.19; P = .025).

Study details: Findings are from a retrospective cohort study including 1,719 patients with psoriasis, of which 1,387, 229, and 103 patients were treated with topics, conventional DMARDs, and bDMARDs, respectively.

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Disclosures: This study was supported by a grant from the Pan-American League of Associations for Rheumatology. Few of the authors declared receiving grants, speaker fees, and/or consulting fees outside the submitted work from various sources.

Source: Acosta Felquer ML et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2021 Jul 19. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220865.