Adverse Drug Reactions to Biologic Drugs in the Treatment of Psoriasis

Abstract Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the skin. The advent of biologic therapies has revolutionized its treatment. The possible adverse reactions associated with these treatments remain areas of active investigation. This study evaluates the safety profile of biologic therapies in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Materials and Methods: The analysis was conducted on 136 adult patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis, who received biologic therapy in one year. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, medical history, previous treatments, disease severity, details of biologic therapy, switch to another biologic drug, and adverse events. Efficacy was evaluated based on clinical assessments and patient-reported outcomes. Adverse events were classified by type, severity, sex, age, and biological drug taken. Results: Our results reported that 48% of patients developed adverse reactions, mostly mild, such as injection site reactions, upper respiratory tract infections, arthralgias/myalgias, headache and infections. Serious adverse reactions were rare, but included neoplasms and infections. Conclusions: The results of this study confirm the efficacy of biologic drugs. However, the data to date from the various studies are reassuring regarding the safety profile of biologic drugs and show little concern for serious infection or risk of malignancy, provided that the necessary screening procedures are performed both before and during treatment. Because of the limitations of our study, it stimulates further investigation of currently available information regarding the possible occurrence of adverse reactions. We await future prospective studies with larger cohorts and longer follow-up periods to further clarify the long-term safety and efficacy of these drugs.