Treatment of psoriatic arthritis with traditional DMARD’s and novel therapies: approaches and recommendations

INTRODUCTION: Recent advances in the therapeutics of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have provided more options to clinicians managing PsA. The purpose of this review is to update the reader on treatment options for PsA using conventional synthetic disease modifying agents (csDMARDs) and novel therapies including tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitors, interleukin 12/23 inhibitor (ustekinumab), the interleukin 17 antagonists including secukinumab, brodalumab, ixekizumab, and the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, apremilast. Areas covered: We reviewed published articles on the treatment of PsA. Our main sources of data included treatment recommendations, registry studies, systematic literature reviews, major randomised controlled trials for more recently approved drugs, and abstracts from the American College of Rheumatology and EULAR meetings. Expert commentary: An overview of the evidence for the use of various pharmacotherapeutic agents for treatment of this heterogeneous disease was compiled. Treatment options for the various domains of PsA are also discussed.