Tofacitinib in acute severe ulcerative colitis (TACOS): A randomized controlled trial

Journal Reference: Am J Gastroenterol 2024;119:1365–72 doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000002635

A combination of tofacitinib and corticosteroids improved treatment responsiveness and decreased the need for rescue therapy in patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC). Singh et al. investigated whether addition of tofacitinib to corticosteroids was superior to corticosteroids alone in patients hospitalised with ASUC.

June 2024

This study by Karakas, et al. found that obesity did not affect secukinumab treatment response and drug retention in ankylosing spondylitis patients.

Ritchlin et al. conducted a post hoc analysis of the DISCOVER-2 trial, evaluating the efficacy of guselkumab in biologic-naïve patients with PsA. Guselkumab provided durable disease control across key PsA domains and PROs over 2 years, regardless of baseline characteristics. A significant proportion of patients achieved stringent endpoints such as ACR50/70, complete skin clearance, and resolution of dactylitis/enthesitis.

Bimekizumab (BKZ) treatment led to early improvements in physical function, sleep, work productivity, and overall health-related quality of life at Week 16 in patients across the full axSpA disease spectrum, which were sustained through Week 52. Dubreuil et al. investigated treatment impact over one year using BASFI, MOS-Sleep-R, SF-36 PCS/MCS, WPAI:axSpA, and ASQoL scores in patients with both non-radiographic and radiographic axSpA.

In this letter to the editor, Papp, et al. reported that brodalumab treatment in patients with psoriasis and an inadequate response to another biologic resulted in high rates of complete skin clearance with concurrent improvements in patient-reported outcomes after 26 weeks. The mean and median times to PASI 100 were 96.8 and 112 days, respectively.

May 2024

Genetic variants in TNFα, NLRP3, MYD88, and FcRγ genes were associated with a response to TNFi, when assessing several inflammatory diseases together. Al-Sofi et al. conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genetic markers and their response to biologics in psoriasis, PsA, RA, IBD, and across all chronic inflammatory diseases together.

FitzGerald, et al. found that Deucravacitinib significantly impacted biomarkers associated with TYK2 signalling pathways of key inflammatory cytokines, including IL-23 and Type I IFN, and those related to collagen matrix turnover.

Goldman, et al. conducted a pharmacovigilance study to evaluate the cardiovascular safety of JAK inhibitors in RA patients. The study demonstrated an increase in the reporting of VTE, stroke, and ischemic heart disease in patients treated with JAK inhibitor compared to bDMARDs, especially within the first year of treatment. This suggests a class effect of JAK inhibitors on cardiovascular risk, emphasising the need for ongoing surveillance and proactive cardiovascular risk management.

Shu, et al. identified 37 preferred terms as unexpected AEs following risankizumab treatment, and found 48 AEs with an increased risk of risankizumab-induced AE severity. They also identified that risankizumab signal strengths were significantly higher in eight system organ classes.

Kwatra et al. found that risankizumab significantly improves clinical signs and symptoms of enthesitis and/or dactylitis in PsA patients, with substantial and sustained efficacy observed up to 52 weeks. Furthermore, these improvements were met by meaningful gains in patient reported outcomes.