Abstract
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.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 963-966 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | International Wound Journal |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Adalimumab
- Chronic wound
- Immunohistochemistry
- TNF-alpha
- Venous leg ulcer
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Dermatology