Pharmacodynamic assessment of apremilast for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting 2–3% of the population. Certain systemic drugs currently available for its treatment could be associated, in the long term, with organ toxicity and adverse events, thus, clinical monitoring throughout treatment is required. Moreover, tolerability issues, parenteral administration, and barriers to patient access, such as high cost and specialist management lead to treatment failure.

Areas covered: Apremilast is an oral small molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4i). PDE is the major enzyme class responsible for the hydrolysis of cyclic adenosine monophosphate in immune cells (cAMP). With PDE4 inhibition, apremilast works intracellularly to modulate pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediator production critically involved in psoriasis.

The aim of this paper is to focus the attention on apremilast pharmacodynamics effects, its efficacy and safety in treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis.

Expert opinion: Apremilast is an effective and well-tolerated option in treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Its safety profile and the oral administration offer significant advantages in prescribing apremilast for the treatment of psoriasis, particularly in some subsets of patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Apremilast
• phosphodiesterase-4-inhibitor
• psoriasis
• oral therapy
• small molecule

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank and to express their sincere appreciation to their advisor Professor Sergio Chimenti for the enthusiastic guidance and advice throughout this research.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.