Dimethyl Fumarate's Effectiveness and Safety in Psoriasis: A Real-Life Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is approved as oral systemic treatment for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Scarce evidence is available for DMF treatment in psoriatic patients at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of DMF monotherapy in moderate-to-severe psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods This multicenter, retrospective study included patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who had received a 48-week DMF treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Selected outcomes were: variation of mean PASI, proportion of patients achieving PASI50 and PASI75, variation of mean PGA and face PGA, genital PGA, scalp PGA, mean itch VAS and mean DLQI. Results Forty-four patients were enrolled, and four patients became COVID-19 positive during the observation period but did not discontinue DMF therapy. DMF produced a significant improvement of signs and symptoms of psoriasis as expressed by mean PASI variation from 13.07 at baseline to 6.11 at week 48 ( p < 0.0001), itch VAS from 3.22 at baseline to 1.18 at week 48 ( p < 0.001), PGA from 2.84 at baseline to 1.30 at week 48 ( p < 0.0001) and DLQI from 13.09 at baseline to 6.07 at week 48 ( p < 0.0001). The percentage of patients who achieved PASI50 and PASI75 was 4.55% at week 4 and 59.09% at week 48 and 0% at week 4 and 22.73% at week 48, respectively. A clinical important decrease of mean PGA score was observed in all subgroups, face psoriasis, genital psoriasis and scalp psoriasis. Adverse events were predictable and manageable. Conclusions DMF monotherapy is an effective and safe treatment option in moderate-to-severe psoriasis also in patients who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection.