Psoriasiform Drug Eruption Caused by Abatacept: Immunohistochemical Investigation of STAT Signaling

Abatacept is a biological immune modifier that is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Although psoriasiform drug eruption is reported as one of the cutaneous adverse effects of abatacept, the precise mechanisms are not fully understood. In this report, we describe a 65-year-old Japanese man with psoriasiform drug eruption caused by abatacept. Interestingly, immunohistochemical staining revealed that the epidermal keratinocytes in the basal layer and lower layers of the stratum spinosum were positive for pSTAT3, partially positive for pSTAT1 and negative for pSTAT6, which is similar to conventional psoriasis vulgaris. Our present study suggests that psoriasiform drug eruption caused by abatacept might develop by similar immunological mechanisms as those of psoriasis vulgaris.