Efficacy of and Safety of Secukinumab in Psoriasis Vulgaris: A Prospective Study

Objective: Psoriasis is an immune mediated inflammatory skin disorder that potentially requires lifelong management. Different therapies treating psoriasis have been recognized wherein Secukinumab is a fully humanized, IL-17A monoclonal antibody that has been approved by US Food and Drug administration for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Therefore, this study targeted to assess the efficacy of Secukinumab in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis. Methodology: This was a Prospective interventional multicenter study conducted by using consecutive sampling technique. The duration of study was about one year. The sample size was 138. Adult patients between 18-65 years of either gender with clinical diagnosis of psoriasis vulgaris involving scalp, face, hands, or genital areas, were include. Treatment initiated by the administration of a single dose of 300 mg Secukinumab subcutaneously for 4 weeks then monthly for 52 weeks. Paired t-test was applied to assess the difference in the PASI score at various follow ups. Results: The study results showed that out of 138 patients, 112(81.2%) were males and 26(18.8%) were females and their mean age was 40.47±9.55 years. As far as distribution of disease is concerned, 117(84.8%) patients reported Plaque Psoriasis, 57(41.3%) patients reported Scalp Psoriasis, 9(6.5%) patients reported nail Psoriasis, 11(8.0%) patients reported Palmoplantar Psoriasis, and 5(3.6%) patients reported Erythrodermic psoriasis. For the comparison of Secukinumab treatment under PASI scores, there was statistically significant reduction observed from mean of baseline PASI scores till 1 week (p<0.001), till 2 week (p<0.001), till 4 week (p<0.001), till 8 week (p<0.001). The improvement in mean PASI score from baseline to 1 year was 91%. Conclusion: This study concluded that Secukinumab is a highly effective, rapid-acting biological therapy with no obvious adverse effects. Additionally, it was seen that secukinumab significantly reduced the baseline PASI score till 8 week rapidly in moderate and severe psoriasis.