The efficacy and safety of ixekizumab in the treatment of spondyloarthritis under the conditions of real clinical practice

Aim: to assess the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab in the treatment of ankylosing spondyloarthritis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PA) in real clinical practice. Patients and Methods: this retrospective study included patients with AS and PA who received ixekizumab therapy from February 2021 to April 2022. Disease activity was evaluated every 3–6 months, using BASDAI and ASDAS scores for AS and DAPSA и PASI scores for PA. C-reactive protein (CRP) served as a serologic marker of disease activity. Results: the analysis included the data received for 27 patients, of whom 10 persons had AS and 17 — PA. The safety of treatment was assessed in all patients, and the data of 9 AS and 16 PA patients were included in the analysis of the treatment efficacy. In the AS group (4 males and 5 females), the median age at the therapy initiation was 34 [32; 41.5] years and in the PA group (11 males and 6 females — 40 [32.5; 48.5] years. Failure or intolerance of the standard therapy was reported in all patients. Prior to ixekizumab treatment, most patients did not receive targeted therapies. Of 27 patients, 4 received genetically engineered biological drugs / targeted synthesized drugs which failed to achieve remission / low disease activity. In the AS group, the elevated levels of CRP were revealed in 7 (77.8%) patients, ASDAS demonstrated the presence of disease activity in all patients. According to BASDAI, disease activity was recorded in 7 (77.8%) cases. During the treatment, there was a downtrend in the percentage of patients with high disease activity as shown by ASDAS and BASDAI scores, as well as in the percentage of patients with elevated levels of CRP, while the BASDAI values were statistically significant (p=0.031). In the PA group, elevated CRP levels were reported in 62.5% of patients, and DAPSA scores represented moderate of high activity in 75.0% of patients. As a result of the treatment, there was a decrease in the percentage of patients with higher DAPSA scores and elevated CRP levels, but the changes did not achieve statistical significance. Side effects were reported in 7.4% of patients, but there were no serious adverse events. Conclusion: acording to our data ixekizumab has shown efficacy and safety in the treatment of PA and AS in real clinical practice. KEYWORDS: ixekizumab, real clinical practice, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondyloarthritis, genetically engineered biological drugs. FOR CITATION: Meshkov A.D., Ostapenko V.S., Pykhtina V.S. The efficacy and safety of ixekizumab in the treatment of spondyloarthritis under the conditions of real clinical practice. Russian Medical Inquiry. 2023;7(3):137–143 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.32364/2587-6821- 2023-7-3-137-143.