Treatment With Apremilast in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis

Apremilast (Otezla®) is a Federal Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. Although there are a lot of data demonstrating how apremilast works in the laboratory, there are very few demonstrating how it works in the actual target organ, i.e. the skin or synovial (joint) tissue in patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Laboratory data has demonstrated that apremilast decreases inflammatory proteins and increases anti-inflammatory proteins. However, almost all of these data/studies have been performed on the blood of patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, not the skin or synovial (joint) tissue. These studies that have been performed on the blood of patients with this condition may, or may not, reflect the true response to therapy in the synovial (joint) tissue and/or skin.