Effectiveness of interleukin-17A inhibitors in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Ankylosing spondylitis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory arthritis. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) inhibitors is recognized as a novel therapeutic target for ankylosing spondylitis. However, there is still a lack of high-quality research evidence regarding the issues. Therefore, we performed a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IL-17A inhibitors in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. METHODS: This protocol will be conducted under the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. Furthermore, the study has been registered on PROSPERO (CRD42022375885). The following electronic databases will be searched regardless of language and publication status: Pubmed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, China Biomedical Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Database, and Wanfang Database. Cochrane “bias risk” tool is used to assess the bias risk of the quality of the included literature. Data synthesis and statistical analysis will be performed using the RevMan 5.3 (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark) software. RESULTS: A synthesis of current evidence of IL-17A inhibitors for ankylosing spondylitis will be shown in this protocol. CONCLUSION: This review can provide convincing evidence to help clinicians make decisions when dealing with ankylosing spondylitis.