This study aimed to explore the correlation of miR-125a with risk and severity of psoriasis, and further investigate the potential of miR-125a for predicting response to etanercept (ETN) treatment in psoriatic patients. Moderate to severe plaque psoriatic patients (n = 126) about to undergo ETN treatment for 6 months were recruited. Their plasma samples were obtained, and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores and PASI-75 response rate were assessed at baseline (M0), and at 1 (M1), 3 (M3) and 6 months (M6) of treatment. Referring to PASI-75 response status at M6, patients were categorized as PASI-75 responders and PASI-75 non-responders. Healthy controls (HC, n =120) were also enrolled and their plasma samples were collected. In addition, plasma miR-125a was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. miR-125a was decreased in psoriatic patients compared with HC; further, the receiver-operator curve (ROC) exhibited that miR-125a was of good value in differentiating psoriatic patients from HC with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.802. In psoriatic patients, miR-125a was negatively associated with PASI score to some extent. Interestingly, baseline miR-125a was lower in PASI-75 responders than PASI-75 non-responders; further, ROC showed it predicted PASI-75 response at M6 to some extent with AUC of 0.672. Multivariate logistic regression also revealed that miR-125a was an independent predictive factor for worse PASI-75 response at M6. Furthermore, miR-125a expression was gradually increased during the treatment in PASI-75 responders, but unchanged in PASI-75 non-responders. Measurement of circulating miR-125a exhibits good value in the management of ETN-treated psoriatic patients.

Background: Ustekinumab, as a monoclonal antibody against interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23, gets approved in China since 2019, therefore fewstudies report the application of ustekinumab in treating Chinese psoriasis patients in the real clinical settings until now. Aims: Thus, this study aimed to evaluate treatment efficacy, treatment response–related factors, and safety of ustekinumab in treating Chinese psoriasis patients. Materials and Methods: Totally, 72 moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis patients who underwent ustekinumab treatment were analyzed. Their clinical data were recorded. Furthermore, improvement of psoriasis area severity index (PASI) score more than 75% (PASI75) and improvement of PASI score more than 90% (PASI90) at week 12 and week 24 were retrieved. Besides, the adverse events were reviewed. Results: There were 72.2% and 37.5% psoriasis patients who achieved PASI75 response and PASI90 response at week 12. Meanwhile, 86.7% and 46.7% psoriasis patients realized PASI75 response and PASI90 response at week 24. Besides, multivariant logistic regression analyses revealed that body mass index (BMI), disease duration, and history of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors could independently predict reduced ustekinumab response in psoriasis patients. Additionally, the most common adverse events of ustekinumab treatment in psoriasis patients were infection (12.5%) and nasopharyngitis (9.7%), followed by headache (4.2%), cough (4.2%), abnormal hepatic function (4.2%), injection site reactions (2.8%), and eosinophilia (1.4%), which were all mild and manageable. Conclusions: Ustekinumab is an effective and safe immunotherapy drug for treating Chinese psoriasis patients. Furthermore, BMI, disease duration, and history of TNF inhibitors are predictors of poor ustekinumab response.