Development of Predictive Models for NB-UVB Treatment Efficacy and Safety in Psoriasis

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Narrow-band ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy is an effective, cost-efficient, and safe treatment for plaque psoriasis; however, predictors of treatment response remain limited. Objective: To develop predictive models for the efficacy and safety of NB-UVB phototherapy in patients with plaque psoriasis. Methods: A total of 252 patients with plaque psoriasis were enrolled and received 12 weeks of NB-UVB phototherapy. Baseline clinical data and blood samples for genetic analysis were collected. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with treatment response and adverse events (AEs). Results: Using a suggestive genome-wide significance threshold ( P < 1× 10 − 5 ), the SLC7A13 rs35314286 TA allele and DYNC1H1 rs941636 A allele showed suggestive associations with better efficacy after 4 weeks of NB-UVB treatment. Seven ATP2B2 SNPs and ten PSMB7 SNPs showed suggestive associations with achievement of Psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) 75 at week 12. Two KCNA2 SNPs, seven THSD7B SNPs, and one TENM4 SNP were identified as candidate markers for the occurrence of AEs. Conclusion: Predictive models of NB-UVB treatment response in psoriasis were subsequently established and achieved area under the curve (AUC) values ranging from 0.80 to 0.85. Further validation in independent external cohorts is needed before clinical application. Keywords: psoriasis, phototherapy, narrow-band ultraviolet B, genome-wide association study, single-nucleotide polymorphism, predictive model