The article discusses a study on how tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) inhibition, a treatment for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), affects pain processing in the brain, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The study included 6 PsA patients, some new to biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and some experienced, along with 4 healthy individuals. They were scanned before and after starting TNF inhibitor (TNFi) treatment to observe changes in brain response to pain.
The results showed different brain activity patterns between healthy subjects and PsA patients, and among the PsA patients themselves, depending on their response to the treatment. In patients responding well to treatment, brain activation increased in areas associated with pain processing after starting TNFi. Those with less response showed little change. The study suggests the fMRI approach could help predict how well PsA patients will respond to TNFi treatment, but more research with additional patients is needed to confirm these findings.