Sex, BMI May Affect Response to PsA Therapy

Contextual factors such as sex and body mass index (BMI) may influence a patient’s response to psoriatic arthritis (PsA) therapy, according to data from a recent post hoc analysis of the Study of Etanercept and Methotrexate in Combination or as Monotherapy in Subjects with Psoriatic Arthritis (SEAM-PsA) phase 3 trial.

In SEAM-PsA, patients with PsA who were naïve to both methotrexate and biologics were randomized to treatment with methotrexate, etanercept, or methotrexate-etanercept combination. A total of 851 patients completed the trial. Key outcomes were evaluated at week 24, including American College of Rheumatology 20 (ACR20) criteria, minimal disease activity (MDA), very low disease activity (VLDA), and Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Score (PASDAS), stratified by sex and BMI.

A higher proportion of men who received the methotrexate-etanercept combination achieved ACR20, MDA, and VLDA, compared with women in the same treatment arm. Men also achieved better PASDAS. While patients with a BMI ≤ 30 generally had better outcomes than those with BMI > 30 in some treatment arms for ACR20, MDA, VLDA, and PASDAS, there was no consistent pattern regarding the treatment received.

—Allison Casey

Reference:
Mease PJ, Gladman DD, Merola J, et al. Potential impact of sex and BMI on response to therapy in psoriatic arthritis: Post hoc analysis of results from the SEAM-PsA trial. J Rheumatol. Published online: April 2022. DOI:10.3899/jrheum.211037