Our results support a beneficial effect of the anti-TNF-α blockade on the mechanisms associated with accelerated atherogenesis in patients with psoriasis.

Objective. Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is frequently refractory to standard therapy. Tocilizumab (TCZ) has demonstrated efficacy in single cases and in small series of patients with AOSD. The aim of this multicenter study was to assess the efficacy of TCZ in patients with AOSD refractory to conventional treatment.Methods. This was a retrospective open-label study of TCZ treatment in 34 patients with AOSD who had experienced an inadequate response to corticosteroids and at least 1 standard synthetic immunosuppressive drug and also, in many cases, biologic agents.Results. The mean ؎ SD age of the patients (8 men and 26

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) are two closely related diseases in people aged 50 years and older, which are more frequently observed in Western countries. Despite being common entities, concern still exists about the epidemiology, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of both entities. New imaging techniques, such as 18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography, have proved to be useful in detecting large-vessel involvement in GCA. Corticosteroids are the cornerstone of the therapy in GCA and PMR. Relapses are frequent in these conditions. Unlike methotrexate and tumor necrosis factor-α antagonists, anti-interleukin-6 receptor therapy appears to be useful in patients with GCA and PMR who are refractory to corticosteroids. This review summarizes recent studies on GCA and PMR.

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is often refractory to standard therapy. Anakinra (ANK), an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, has demonstrated efficacy in single cases and small series of AOSD. We assessed the efficacy of ANK in a series of AOSD patients.Multicenter retrospective open-label study. ANK was used due to lack of efficacy to standard synthetic immunosuppressive drugs and in some cases also to at least 1 biologic agent.Forty-one patients (26 women/15 men) were recruited. They had a mean age of 34.4 ± 14 years and a median [interquartile range (IQR)] AOSD duration of 3.5 [2–6] years before ANK onset. At that time the most common clinical features were joint manifestations 87.8%, fever 78%, and cutaneous rash 58.5%. ANK yielded rapid and maintained clinical and laboratory improvement. After 1 year of therapy, the frequency of joint and cutaneous manifestations had decreased to 41.5% and to 7.3% respectively, fever from 78% to 14.6%, anemia from 56.1% to 9.8%, and lymphadenopathy from 26.8% to 4.9%. A dramatic improvement of laboratory parameters was also achieved. The median [IQR] prednisone dose was also reduced from 20 [11.3–47.5] mg/day at ANK onset to 5 [0–10] at 12 months. After a median [IQR] follow-up of 16 [5–50] months, the most important side effects were cutaneous manifestations (n = 8), mild leukopenia (n = 3), myopathy (n = 1), and infections (n = 5).ANK is associated with rapid and maintained clinical and laboratory improvement, even in nonresponders to other biologic agents. However, joint manifestations are more refractory than the systemic manifestations.

The aim of the present study was to determine if the use of the anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a monoclonal antibody adalimumab could improve endothelial function and arterial stiffness in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. This was a prospective study on a series of consecutive patients with moderate to severe psoriasis who completed 6 months of therapy with adalimumab. Patients with history of cardiovascular events, diabetes mellitus, kidney disease, hypertension or body mass index of 35 kg/m 2 or more were excluded. Assessment of endothelial function by brachial artery reactivity measuring flow-mediated endothelial dependent vasodilatation (FMD%), and carotid arterial stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV) was performed at the onset of treatment (time 0) and at month 6. Twenty-nine patients were studied. Anti-TNF-a adalimumab therapy yielded a significant improvement of endothelial function. The mean AE standard deviation (SD) FMD% values increased from 6.19 AE 2.44% at the onset of adalimumab to 7.46 AE 2.43% after 6 months of treatment with this biologic agent (P = 0.008). Likewise, following the use of adalimumab, PWV levels decreased from 6.28 AE 1.04 m/s at the onset of adalimumab to 5.69 AE 1.31 m/s at 6 months (P = 0.03). In conclusion, patients with moderate to severe psoriasis exhibit improvement of endothelial function and arterial stiffness following anti-TNF-a therapy. These findings are of potential relevance due to increased risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with severe psoriasis.