Thalassemic trait prevalence in patients affected by psoriatic arthritis in anti-TNF treatment

Thalassemic trait (Thal) is associated with rheumatic disease, particularly a mild form of seronegative polyarthritis resembling rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not with other rheumatic diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of Thal in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and to evaluate the efficacy of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) therapy in patients with PsA and Thal. We performed a retrospective study in 321 patients with PsA who started therapy with TNF-α blockers. For all patients included in the study, at baseline and every 3 months for the 1 year of follow up, data concerning PsA activity and ferritin levels were registered. In our group of PsA patients, a total of 27 (8%) with concomitant Thal were identified and included in the study. In patients without Thal, all variables improved significantly after 6 months of therapy, while in patients with Thal, the same variables showed a significant decrease after 12 months.: Our study shows that PsA is significantly associated with Thal, but further studies are needed to address this issue. The presence of Thal could be a negative predictor of achieving remission during treatment with TNF-α-blockers.