participants. Resident-specific spatio-temporal pollution concentration models, incorporating community specific measurements, agency monitoring data, and geographical predictors, estimated concentrations of PM 2-5 and NO x between 1999 and 2012. The primary aim was to examine the association between progression of coronary artery calcium and mean carotid artery intima-media thickness in long term exposure to ambient air pollutant concentrations (PM 2-5 , NO x , and black carbon) between examinations and within the 6 metropolitan areas adjusting for baseline age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, site, and CT scanner technology. Participants in this study came from Baltimore,

Brodalumab is a novel fully human immunoglobulin G2 monoclonal antibody that antagonizes the interleukin (IL)-17 pathway by binding with high affinity to human IL-17RA. The role of IL-17A in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, as well as the remarkable effectiveness of IL-17 inhibitors in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, is well established. The mechanism of action of brodalumab is unique in that it inhibits the IL-17 receptor compared to the two other currently FDA-approved IL-17 inhibitors, secukinumab and ixekizumab, which inhibit the IL-17A molecule itself. The efficacy of brodalumab in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis has been demonstrated in phase 2 and 3 trials, and subsequently the FDA approved this medication in February 2017. Brodalumab was approved in Japan in July 2016 and approval is pending in Europe. The safety and adverse effects of brodalumab were reviewed across several clinical trials, which, similar to other IL-17 inhibitors, demonstrated increased rates of neutropenia and Candida infections. Brodalumab treatment, similar to ixekizumab and secukinumab, showed no improvement in inflammatory bowel disease patients, and on the contrary, more exacerbations were encountered. Suicidal ideation and behavior events have been reported with brodalumab treatment and are of significant concern. Brodalumab provides another highly effective treatment option for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Nonetheless, over half of this cohort found AA to be moderately or seriously financially burdensome, and the average out-of-pocket costs of $1354 is similar to the average out-ofpocket costs of $1418 for patients with psoriasis. 4 The reallife willingness to pay of this cohort reflects the consequences of AA on the everyday lives of patients. Although future work is required to confirm these results and determine their generalizability to the overall community of patients with AA, these findings suggest that the negative psychological consequences of AA may be compounded by financial distress, which has been shown to place patients at risk for worse quality of life. 5 As payers begin to explore coverage around an increasingly promising pipeline for AA treatments, we hope that this evaluation can encourage broader financial coverage for treatments of this psychologically and financially burdensome disease-not just for pharmaceuticals, but for supplementary therapies as well. Physicians should be aware of the potential ramifications of treatment costs for patients and consider financial impairment as an unintended consequence of their recommendations.

Secukinumab (Cosentyx™) is a human monoclonal IgG1k antibody that has been developed to target and block the actions of IL-17A. It is known that this cytokine is elevated in lesions of psoriasis. Interleukins in the Th17 pathway play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and have thus become targets for recent biologic drug development. As a monoclonal antibody immune modulator, secukinumab exhibits the expected pharmacokinetic properties of slow subcutaneous absorption, low clearance, and long half-life, although formal studies examining the impact of impaired hepatic or renal function on the overall pharmacokinetic profile have not been conducted. Both Phase II and III clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of secukinumab in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and noninfectious uveitis. In June 2015, secukinumab was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, with a wealth of clinical trials showcasing its efficacy in improving psoriasis area and severity index scores, and it is superior to other comparable biologics on the market, including the TNF inhibitor etanercept. As such, this review focuses on the marquee clinical trials involving secukinumab treatment of plaque psoriasis, while also exploring this drug’s efficacy in treating patients with psoriatic arthritis, a disease that has a well-documented comorbidity in patients diagnosed with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Finally, the safety and tolerability of this drug in a variety of clinical trials to date have also been reviewed, and will undoubtedly have a large impact on this drug’s postmarketing surveillance and future studies regarding its long-term safety.

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