Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2010 Oct 21;2(3):173-176.
doi: 10.1159/000321419.

Nail Lichen Planus: Successful Treatment with Etanercept

N Irla  1 , T Schneiter, E Haneke, N Yawalkar
Affiliations
Case Reports

Nail Lichen Planus: Successful Treatment with Etanercept

N Irla et al. Case Rep Dermatol. .

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Etanercept is a fully human tumor necrosis factor a receptor fusion protein that binds tumor necrosis factor a with greater affinity than natural receptors. Biologics are widely used in the treatment of psoriasis and psoriasis arthritis and may represent a new therapeutic option for some patients with psoriatic nail disease. CASE REPORT: We report a case of lichen planus limited to the toe nails successfully treated with etanercept monotherapy. CONCLUSION: The significant improvement of our case suggests that etanercept is an effective treatment modality for lichen planus limited particularly to the nails. Further controlled studies are needed to establish the effectiveness and therapeutic regimes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Clinical features at presentation.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Clinical findings of the patient before (a), 3 months (b) and 9 months (c) after etanercept monotherapy (25 mg s.c. twice weekly for the first 6 months and 50 mg s.c. once weekly thereafter).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Samman PD. The nails in lichen planus. Br J Dermatol. 1961;73:288–292. - PubMed
    1. Rallis E, Stavropoulou E, Rigopoulos D, Verros C. Rapid response of nail psoriasis to etanercept. J Rheumatol. 2008;35:544–545. - PubMed
    1. Rich P, Griffiths CE, Reich K, et al. Baseline nail disease in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and response to treatment with infliximab during 1 year. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2008;58:224–231. - PubMed
    1. Rigopoulos D, Gregoriou S, Stratigos A, et al. Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of infliximab on psoriatic nails: an unblinded, nonrandomized, open-label study. Br J Dermatol. 2008;159:453–456. - PubMed
    1. Wenzel J, Scheler M, Proelss J, Bieber T, Tuting T. Type I interferon-associated cytotoxic inflammation in lichen planus. J Cutan Pathol. 2006;33:672–678. - PubMed

Publication types