Abstract
Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory dermatosis whose aetiopathogenesis remains unclear, although tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) appears to play a crucial role. The biological potential of TNFα inhibitors, such as etanercept, which reduce the inflammatory cascade, has radically changed the therapeutic management of patients with psoriasis and other immunomediated inflammatory diseases, associated with TNFα. The pathogenesis of the selective destruction of melanocytes in vitiligo is not fully understood, although there is growing evidence that several T helper type 1 cytokines, particularly TNFα, may be involved in the depigmentation process.
A patient is described who presented with both psoriasis and vitiligo, and was treated with etanercept. After 24 weeks of therapy, the patient’s psoriasis had improved markedly and the patient noted a mild improvement of vitiligo, with a reduction in macules and repigmentation in the scapular region.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Marie Cheeseman of inScience Communications who provided assistance with English-language editing. This assistance was funded by Pfizer. No funding was provided for the conduct of the study and none of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare; all persons who made substantial contributions to the work and meet the criteria for authorship have been included as authors for this paper.
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Campanati, A., Giuliodori, K., Ganzetti, G. et al. A Patient with Psoriasis and Vitiligo Treated with Etanercept. AM J Clin Dermatol 11 (Suppl 1), 46–48 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2165/1153424-S0-000000000-00000
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/1153424-S0-000000000-00000