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The relevance of the gut microbiota in some skin inflammatory diseases, including acne vulgaris, has been emphasized. Probiotics could play a role in the modulation of the microbiota, improving the clinical course of this disease. A 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial with patients aged 12 to 30 years with acne vulgaris was conducted. The study product was a capsule composed of the probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (CECT 30031) and the cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis (BEA_IDA_0074B). Patients with improvement in the Acne Global Severity Scale were 10/34 (29.41%) in the placebo group compared with 20/40 (50%) in the probiotic group (p = 0.03). A significant reduction (p = 0.03) in the number of non-inflammatory acne lesions was observed in the probiotic group (–18.60 [–24.38 to –12.82]) vs the placebo group (–10.54 [–17.43 to –3.66]). Regarding the number of total lesions, a reduction almost reaching statistical significance (p = 0.06) was observed in the probiotic group (–27.94 [–36.35 to –19.53]) compared with the placebo group (–18.31 [–28.21 to –8.41]). In addition, patients with improvement attending the Global Acne Grading System were 7/34 (20.58%) in the placebo group vs 17/40 (42.50%) in the probiotic group (p = 0.02). The number of adverse events was similar in both groups. The probiotic used in this study was effective and well tolerated, and it should be considered for acne vulgaris patients.

Biological drugs targeting tumour necrosis factor are effective for psoriasis. However, 30–50% of patients do not respond to these drugs and may even develop paradoxical psoriasiform reactions. This study search­ed for DNA copy number variations that could predict anti-tumour necrotic factor drug response or the appearance of anti-tumour necrotic factor induced psoriasiform reactions. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 70 patients with anti-tumour necrotic factor drug-treated moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Samples were analysed with an Illumina 450K methylation microarray. Copy number variations were obtained from raw methylation data using conumee and Chip Analysis Methylation Pipeline (ChAMP) R packages. One copy number variation was found, harbouring one gene (CPM) that was significantly associated with adalimumab response (Bonferroni-adjusted p-value

Background and objectives: Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated skin disease caused by several complex factors, both environmental and genetic, many of which are still not fully understood. Nowadays, several groups of biological drugs are being used for psoriasis treatment. Although these therapies are very effective, they show significant variability in efficacy among individuals. Therefore, there is a need for biomarkers to predict treatment outcomes in order to guide personalized therapeutic decisions. Pharmacogenetics is the study of variations in DNA sequences related to drug response. Materials and Methods: In this article, we review pharmacogenetics studies on the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis focusing on anti-interleukin (IL) 12/23 (ustekinumab) and anti-IL17 drugs (secukinumab and ixekizumab), as well as recent studies concerning anti-TNF drugs. Results: Several polymorphisms have been studied over the years in reference to anti-TNF drugs; some of the most recent studies included the performance of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and pharmacogenetics studies focused on the optimization of a treatment regimen. Various polymorphisms in different genes have been related to ustekinumab response; among them, the most commonly studied is the HLA-C*06:02 allele. Conclusions: Although not confirmed in some studies, most studies have shown that patients carrying this allele present a significantly higher response rate to ustekinumab. Some polymorphisms have been studied in patients treated with anti-IL17 drugs, mostly related to secukinumab; however, up to now, no association has been found between any of these polymorphisms and response. Nevertheless, further studies involving larger cohorts are needed in order to confirm these results before the implementation of this biomarker in clinical practice.