Abstract
Objective: To examine whether (1) etanercept (ETN) 25 mg once weekly is effective in maintaining a clinical response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who have responded to 50 mg once weekly (dose reduction group), and (2) whether low dose ETN treatment (25 mg weekly or biweekly) is effective enough to improve disease activity of RA.
Methods: In the dose reduction group, 18 patients were included. The ETN dose was decreased from 50 mg once weekly to 25 mg once weekly. Parameters of RA disease activity (mean values of ESR, CRP, DAS28ESR and DAS28CRP) were assessed at the following points: before dose reduction, 3 months after dose reduction, and 6 months after dose reduction. In the low dose treatment group, 7 patients were included. ETN was initiated at a dose of 25 mg weekly or biweekly. Parameters of RA disease activity were evaluated in the same way as the dose reduction group. Remission rates were also studied in both groups.
Results: In the dose reduction group, disease activity parameters resulted in unaltered after 6 months. In the low dose treatment group, the CRP, DAS28ESR and DAS28CRP values significantly decreased (2.88±2.46 to 0.32±0.42, 4.37±1.52 to 3.16±1.38, and 3.97±1.23 to 2.32±0.82, respectively) after 6 months. Remission rates of ETN dose reduction group and low dose treatment group increased from 66.6 to 72.2%, and 14.2 to 50.0%, respectively.
Conclusion: The sustained effect in the ETN dose reduction group and obvious improvement of clinical parameters of the low dose treatment group suggest that both treatment methods can induce clinical benefits in some RA patients who can’t be prescribed the full dose of ETN.
