Apremilast therapy increases CD39

Athanasios Mavropoulos, Sotirios G Tsiogkas, Theodora Simopoulou, Efthimios Dardiotis, Efterpi Zafiriou, Lazaros I Sakkas, Dimitrios P Bogdanos

Abstract readObservational Study

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In one paragraph

Observational study in Rheumatology international, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Athanasios Mavropoulos *Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5328-1323

Sotirios G Tsiogkas *Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8900-7281

Theodora SimopoulouDepartment of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2604-5090

Efthimios DardiotisDepartment of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2957-641X

Efterpi ZafiriouDepartment of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6594-7292

Lazaros I SakkasDepartment of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7670-3314

Dimitrios P BogdanosDepartment of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. bogdanos@med.uth.gr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9697-7902

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are chronic inflammatory diseases, recognized as one entity, termed psoriatic disease (PsD). CD39 is an ectonucleotidase that hydrolyzes ATP to adenosine and is expressed on a human Treg sub-population capable of exerting interleukin (IL-) 17 suppression. We aimed to investigate the effect of apremilast on CD39 expression in T cells from patients with PsD. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed by multicolor flow cytometry and appropriate monoclonal antibodies. Intracellular cytokine production of PBMCs was measured after in vitro PMA plus ionomycin stimulation. At 6 weeks post-treatment, apremilast inhibited IL-17 and interferon-γ (IFNγ) production, increased IL-10 production in both CD4+T cells and CD4-T cells, and inhibited IL-6 production in CD4-T cells. At baseline, levels of CD4+CD39+ cells were decreased in patients compared to controls. At 6 weeks post-treatment, CD4+CD39+ cells increased. Furthermore, CD4+CD39+ cells producing IL-10 increased in patients who achieved a PASI response. A significant proportion of IL-10-producing CD39+ cells were CD56-CD11c- cells. CD4+FoxP3+ cells were decreased in patients compared to controls. At 6 weeks post-treatment CD4+FoxP3+ cells, and CD4+FoxP3+CD39+ cells increased, although CD4+CD25hiFoxP3+ Treg cells did not change significantly. If confirmed in larger studies, CD4+CD39+ cells producing IL-10 could likely become associated with the response to apremilast.

Indexed as

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalApyraseCD4-Positive T-LymphocytesPsoriasisThalidomideAdultAntigens, CDFemaleForkhead Transcription FactorsHumansInterleukin-10MaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsRetrospective StudiesT-Lymphocytes, RegulatoryAntigens, CDAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalapremilastApyraseCD39 antigenENTPD1 protein, humanForkhead Transcription FactorsFOXP3 protein, humanIL10 protein, humanInterleukin-10ThalidomideApremilastArthritis, PsoriaticBlood Cells, MononuclearEctonucleoside Triphosphate Diphosphohydrolase 1 (CD39)Flow CytometryFOXP3 protein, humanInterleukin-10PsoriasisT-Lymphocytes, Regulatory

Identifiers

PMID42089905

DOI10.1007/s00296-026-06114-3

PMCPMC13149556

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