Long-term clinical efficacy and safety of ixekizumab for psoriatic patients: a single-center experience.

OBJECTIVE: While clinical trials provide invaluable evidence, real-world data can offer further insight on the efficacy and safety of biologic drugs. This report aims to analyze the long-term efficacy and safety of ixekizumab in real-world clinical practice in our facility. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with a diagnosis of psoriasis and who started treatment with ixekizumab were included in this retrospective study and followed for 156 weeks. The severity of cutaneous manifestations was evaluated using the PASI score at several time points and clinical efficacy was evaluated using PASI 75, -90 and -100 responses. RESULTS: Not only PASI 75, but also PASI 90 and 100 responses showed a favorable outcome after treatment with ixekizumab. Responses at week 12 were sustained through the following three years in the majority of patients. No statistically significant difference was found between bio-naive and bio-switch patients and weight and disease duration had no impact on the efficacy of the drug. Ixekizumab had a favorable safety profile, as we observed no major adverse events. Two cases of eczema were observed and led to drug discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab in real-world clinical practice.

Psoriasis patients' characteristics associated with high PASI response to tildrakizumab: an international dual center study.

OBJECTIVE: Heterogeneous real-world evidence can complement the more strictly regulated clinical trial data. A benefit of this is the wide range of backgrounds, comorbidities and characteristics that can give additional insights into treatments. Observational, retrospective studies can help to fill in the mosaic that makes up a treatments landscape. Tildrakizumab, an interleukin 23p19 inhibitor, is approved for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and has been shown to be a safe and efficacious therapy in clinical trials and emerging real-world evidence. We aimed at confirming the efficacy of tildrakizumab in patients with plaque psoriasis in a dual center setting and identifying patients' characteristics leading to better treatment response. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, eligible for systemic biological treatment, and treated with tildrakizumab were included in the study and the routine clinical parameters - Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and safety - were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The combined cohorts included 89 patients, of which 64% were naïve to biologic therapies. At the time of analysis efficacy assessment was available for 39 patients after 12 months of treatment, 73 patients after 36 weeks, 79 patients after 16 weeks and 82 patients after 4 weeks. PASI and DLQI decreased significantly over time, with 52/73 (71.2%) patients achieving PASI 100 after 36 weeks. No severe side-effects were recorded in association with tildrakizumab. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed the safety and efficacy of tildrakizumab in a real-world clinical setting. A higher proportion of patients naïve to biologics achieved a greater PASI response than patients who had previously been treated with biologics. The same was true for older patients and patients with a shorter history of disease.

The association of Triatoma maculata (Ericsson 1848) with the gecko Thecadactylus rapicauda (Houttuyn 1782) (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkonidae): a strategy of domiciliation of the Chagas disease peridomestic vector in Venezuela?

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the bioecological relationship between Chagas disease peridomestic vectors and reptiles as source of feeding. METHODS: In a three-story building, triatomines were captured by direct search and electric vacuum cleaner search in and outside the building. Then, age structure of the captured Triatoma maculata (T. maculata) were identified and recorded. Reptiles living in sympatric with the triatomines were also searched. RESULTS: T. maculata were found living sympatric with geckos (Thecadactylus rapicauda) and they bit residents of the apartment building in study. A total of 1 448 individuals of T. maculata were captured within three days, of which 74.2% (1 074 eggs) were eggs, 21.5% were nymphs at different stages, and 4.3% were adults. CONCLUSIONS: The association of T. maculata and T. rapicauda is an effective strategy of colonizing dwellings located in the vicinity of the habitat where both species are present; and therefore, could have implications of high importance in the intradomiciliary transmission of Chagas disease.