Guselkumab treatment of psoriasis results in sustained reduction of systemic inflammatory biomarkers to week 48 in three phase III randomized controlled trials

Increased risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) may be linked to systemic inflammation for patients with psoriasis. Guselkumab is an effective treatment for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis that was previously shown to reduce inflammatory biomarkers in three phase 3 randomized controlled trials [to week 16 in VOYAGE 1 (A Study of Guselkumab in the Treatment of Participants with Moderate to Severe Plaque-Type Psoriasis)/VOYAGE 2 (A Study of Guselkumab in the Treatment of Participants with Moderate to Severe Plaque-Type Psoriasis With Randomised Withdrawal and Retreatment) and week 12 in ECLIPSE (A Study to Evaluate the Comparative Efficacy of CNTO 1959 (Guselkumab) and Secukinumab for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Plaque-Type Psoriasis) ]. In this post hoc analysis, sustained reduction in neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, platelet/lymphocyte ratio and monocyte/lymphocyte ratio were observed to week 48 in these three trials for patients who received guselkumab every 8 weeks. This reduction was independent of improvements in Psoriasis Area Severity Index scores. Observational studies are required to identify whether this reduction correlates with a reduction in MACE.