Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in the therapy of plaque psoriasis. Methods Literatures published up to November 2013 were collected from Cochrane library, MEDLINE, and PubMed which were related with ustekinumab for plaque psoriasis. The efficacy was estimated using relative risk of Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) 75 response rate at the week 12 endpoint in clinical trials, and adverse effects were also analyzed. Meta-analysis was carried out by using Review Manager 5.1. Results Six randomized control trials consistent with the inclusion criteria were selected and reviewed. Ustekinumab 45 mg group and 90 mg group could get better therapeutic effect compared with the placebo group (all P<0.00001). Furthermore, ustekinumab 90 mg group was more effective than ustekinumab 45 mg group (P=0.01). Adverse effects in the 6 trials were mentioned including headache, upper respiratory tract infection, nasopharyngtis, infection, serious infection, cardiovascular events, and malignant tumors. There were no statistically significant differences of these adverse effects among three groups (all P>0.05), except that infection rate in ustekinumab 45 mg group was higher than the placebo group (P=0.02). Conclusions Ustekinumab is an effective and safe therapeutic method for plaque psoriasis. However, further longer time analysis of safety is needed.

Key words: ustekinumab, plaque psoriasis, meta-analysis