Abstract
Objective: We studied the effect and safety of bi-weekly 25 mg etanercept (ETN) in the system of combination therapy in which an administration of immuno-suppressive medicine is added to the current immuno-suppressive treatments.
Methods: 28 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (7 males, 21 females) were studied. The patients were already given methotrexate (MTX) and/or tacrolimus (TAC) more than 3 months before the start of 25 mg ETN bi-weekly administration. They were followed for more than 24 weeks.
Results: At 24 weeks, 22 cases were continuously given bi-weekly 25 mg ETN, while 5 cases were changed to weekly administration and one case stopped due to the patient’s wishes. The dose of MTX was raised in one case at 8 weeks, and TAC in another case at 18 weeks. Averages of CRP, MMP-3 and DAS28 (CRP) at ETN start/24 weeks were 2.69/1.41, 355/249 and 4.56/3.35, respectively. Assessment of effectiveness using DAS28 (CRP) were Good: 11, Moderate: 9, No: 8 cases at 24 weeks. The distribution of disease activity by DAS28 (CRP) were as follows: 20 high cases, 7 moderate cases and 1 low case at start; 7 moderate cases, 3 low cases, 10 cases of remission, and another 8 cases classified as failure of bi-weekly 25 mg ETN (6 cases were changed to weekly administration, 2 cases were the dose of MTX/TAC raised) at 24 weeks. One serious adverse event of pneumonia was observed, but the patient recovered without hospitalization.
