Abstract
BACKGROUND: Behçet's disease (BD) is a type of inflammatory disorder affecting multiple parts of the body. Apremilast is a selective inhibitor of the enzyme phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4). The diminished inflammatory response by PDE4 inhibition is reported to offer a therapeutic benefit and clinical improvement in BD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic electronic literature search was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and EBSCOhost were searched from January 2014 to March 2024 in English language only. Eligible studies included clinical patient studies that evaluated the effectiveness and safety of apremilast on oral ulcers in BD. RESULTS: Four articles included in the qualitative analysis stated that apremilast resulted in a significant reduction in oral ulcers even in patients refractory to several systemic drugs. Risk of bias assessment indicated low to moderate bias in all the studies. LIMITATION: Lack of sufficient literature, with different study designs preventing meta-analysis. CONCLUSION: Apremilast has proved to be effective and safe in the management of oral ulcers in BD, indicating its use as a drug of choice. Further research with a longer follow-up period and an active comparator is required to determine its efficacy over long periods of administration.