title: Adalimumab for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis.
abstract: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory joint disease occurring in 6-39% of patients with psoriasis. Standard therapy of PsA includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, intra-articular steroids and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Failure of standard therapy is an indication for anti-TNF-alpha therapy. Adalimumab - a fully human monoclonal antibody against TNF-alpha - is an effective and generally reasonably well-tolerated drug for treating signs and symptoms of PsA. In placebo-controlled clinical trials, adalimumab showed American College of Rheumatology (ACR)20 response rates of 39-58% and ACR50 response rates of 25-39% in patients with active PsA who had failed previous standard therapy. Significant improvement of psoriatic skin changes and disease-related quality of life were also noted. The response of joints and skin and quality of life improvement was sustained over 2 years of therapy. In addition, adalimumab suppressed structural joint damage and retards radiographic progression of PsA.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology, Medical Department I, Charité - Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12203 Berlin, Germany. denis.poddubnyy@charite.de
authors.forename: Denis A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Poddubnyy
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rudwaleit