Is ustekinumab effective for psoriatic arthritis with insufficient response to initial treatment?

INTRODUCTION: Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory arthritis without a clear etiology. Biological therapy is key for its treatment, especially in more complex patients. There are several alternatives for biological treatment, but due to its high cost, it is important to evaluate their real effectiveness.

METHODS: To answer this question we used Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We identified 12 systematic reviews including three randomized trials overall. We concluded ustekinumab leads to clinical improvement in psoriatic arthritis, and probably is not associated to severe adverse effects.