Background: Plaque psoriasis is a debilitating skin condition that affects approximately 2% of the adult population\nand for which there is currently no cure. Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor that is being investigated for\npsoriasis.\nMethods: The design of this study has been reported previously (NCT00678210). Patients with moderate to severe\nchronic plaque psoriasis received tofacitinib (2 mg, 5 mg, or 15 mg) or placebo, twice daily, for 12 weeks.\nLymphocyte sub-populations, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA were measured at baseline\nand up to Week 12.\nResults: Tofacitinib was associated with modest, dose-dependent percentage increases from baseline in median B\ncell count at Week 4 (24ââ?¬â??68%) and Week 12 (18ââ?¬â??43%) and percentage reductions from baseline in median natural\nkiller cell count at Week 4 (11ââ?¬â??40%). The proportion of patients with detectable CMV and EBV DNA (defined as\n>0 copies/500 ng total DNA) increased post-baseline in tofacitinib-treated patients. However, multivariate analyses\nfound no relationship between changes in CMV or EBV viral load and changes in lymphocyte sub-populations or\ntofacitinib treatment.\nConclusions: Twelve weeks of treatment with tofacitinib had no clinically significant effects on CMV or EBV viral load,\nsuggesting that lymphocyte sub-populations critical to the response to chronic viral infections and viral reactivation\nwere not significantly affected. Replication of these findings during long-term use of tofacitinib will allow confirmation\nof this observation.
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