Serum Protein Profile Changes in Psoriatic Patients Undergoing Treatment With Infliximab

The therapeutic paradigm in psoriasis includes antitumor necrosis alpha agents that have been proved effective and safe as long-term therapy. Recently, it has been described a correlation between the use of biologic agents and the occurrence of monoclonal gammopathies, which are haematological conditions characterized by clonal plasma cells proliferation producing a monoclonal immunoglobulin that accumulates in the blood.

The aim of this study is to detect electrophoretic abnormalities in psoriatic patients undergoing treatment with infliximab.

A retrospective study evaluating all charts from the clinic database of all patients treated with infliximab. The evaluation of serum protein profile is routinely performed in the clinical setting during biologic therapies. We reported the occurrence MGUS in infliximab-treated patients.

The study analysis included 141 charts. Overall, 23 patients showed a MGUS in their electrophoretic profile, though in 6 cases MGUS was detected at the baseline. Thereby, 17 cases (12.06% of the study population) developed MGUS during infliximab therapy.

Serum protein electrophoresis test represents a useful tool to detect and monitor any potentially harmful condition that could occur during treatment with a biologic agent. Particularly, it could be crucial for the detection of MGUS, which does not affect clinical response, and it does not represent a criteria to withdraw the treatment.