Adalimumab treatment leads to reduction of tissue tumor necrosis factor-alpha correlated with venous leg ulcer improvement: A pilot study

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) have higher tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels compared with normal skin. Refractory VLUs of long duration have higher TNF-α levels compared with VLUs of shorter duration. As up to 75% of VLUs fail to heal with standard care, we sought to evaluate the role of anti-TNF-α therapy for patients with refractory VLUs. Evaluable data were obtained in four of five subjects with recalcitrant VLUs treated with 80 mg of subcutaneous adalimumab at week 0 and with 40 mg at week 2 along with compression therapy and were followed-up for 6 weeks. Wound biopsies taken at weeks 0 and 4 were stained with anti-TNF-α antibodies. Average 4-week percent wound size reduction was 20.5% ± 6.4%. Two patients had wound size reduction more than 25%, and their percent wound size reduction correlated to percent TNF-α staining score reductions (P = 0.02, R² = 0.999). VLU TNF-α level decrease 4 weeks post-adalimumab treatment correlated with wound healing.