As compared with oral methotrexate, subcutaneous [corrected] etanercept acted more rapidly to decrease symptoms and slow joint damage in patients with early active rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective. To compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who received monotherapy with either etanercept or methotrexate (MTX) for 2 years and to assess the safety of this therapy.Methods. In the Enbrel ERA (early rheumatoid arthritis) trial, 632 patients with early, active RA were randomized to receive either twice-weekly subcutaneous etanercept (10 mg or 25 mg) or weekly oral MTX (mean dosage 19 mg per week) for at least 1 year in a double-blind manner. Following the blinded phase of the trial, 512 patients continued to receive the therapy to which they had been randomized for up to 1 additional year, in an open-label manner. Radiograph readers remained blinded to treatment group assignment and the chronologic order of images.Results. At 24 months, more 25-mg etanercept patients than MTX patients met American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement criteria (72% and 59%, respectively; P ‫؍‬ 0.005), and more had no increase in total score and erosion scores on the Sharp scale (P ‫؍‬ 0.017 and P ‫؍‬ 0.012, respectively). The mean changes in total Sharp score and erosion score in the 25-mg etanercept group (1.3 and 0.66 units, respectively) were significantly lower than those in the MTX group (3.2 and 1.86 units, respectively; P ‫؍‬ 0.001). Significantly more patients in the 25-mg etanercept group (55%) than in the MTX group (37%) had at least 0.5 units of improvement in the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index (P < 0.001). Fewer patients in the etanercept group than in the MTX group experienced adverse events or discontinued treatment because of adverse events.Conclusion. Etanercept as monotherapy was safe and was superior to MTX in reducing disease activity, arresting structural damage, and decreasing disability over 2 years in patients with early, aggressive RA.

IMPORTANCEPsoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease and has significant associated morbidity and effect on quality of life. It is important to determine whether dietary interventions help reduce disease severity in patients with psoriatic diseases. OBJECTIVE To make evidence-based dietary recommendations for adults with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis from the Medical Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation.EVIDENCE REVIEW We used literature from prior systematic reviews as well as additional primary literature from the MEDLINE database from January 1, 2014, to August 31, 2017, that evaluated the impact of diet on psoriasis. We included observational and interventional studies of patients with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for observational studies and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for interventional studies. We made evidence-based dietary recommendations, which were voted on by the National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board.FINDINGS We identified 55 studies meeting the inclusion criteria for this review. These studies represent 77 557 unique participants of which 4534 have psoriasis. Based on the literature, we strongly recommend dietary weight reduction with a hypocaloric diet in overweight and obese patients with psoriasis. We weakly recommend a gluten-free diet only in patients who test positive for serologic markers of gluten sensitivity. Based on low-quality data, select foods, nutrients, and dietary patterns may affect psoriasis. For patients with psoriatic arthritis, we weakly recommend vitamin D supplementation and dietary weight reduction with a hypocaloric diet in overweight and obese patients. Dietary interventions should always be used in conjunction with standard medical therapies for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Adults with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis can supplement their standard medical therapies with dietary interventions to reduce disease severity. These dietary recommendations from the National Psoriasis Foundation Medical Board will help guide clinicians regarding the utility of dietary interventions in adults with psoriatic diseases.