ABSTRACT
Etanercept (Enbrel, Amgen) is a recombinant human protein that has demonstrated efficacy as monotherapy for moderate to severe psoriasis (1) and is the first Food and Drug Administration-(FDA) approved treatment for psoriatic arthritis (2, 3). Etanercept acts as a competitive inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a proinflammatory cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and in several rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid-and polyarticular-course juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis (RA, JRA, and AS, respectively).
