Treatment of severe refractory psoriasis with infliximab

Infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to tumor necrosis factor alpha and blocks the inflammatory response. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of infliximab in patients with severe and refractory psoriasis. Eleven patients with severe and refractory psoriasis were included in an open-label clinical trial. Patients received infliximab 5 mg/kg intravenously at weeks 0, 2, 6 and every 8 weeks. Psoriasis Assessment and Severity Index (PASI) and BSA (Body Surface Assessment) were used to monitor disease activity with each dose. Results at weeks 6 and 30 are shown. 90% of patients improved their PASI and BSA basal scores early at sixth week, achieving 63.6% (PASI75) and 72.7% (BSA50). This improvement was maintained until the 30th week (54.5% and 72.7%, respectively). Infliximab was well tolerated and there was no significant adverse reaction. Infliximab seems an effective therapy for severe and refractory psoriasis.