Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jun 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialSix-month results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of etanercept treatment in patients with active ankylosing spondylitis.
There is increasing evidence that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) is centrally involved in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and other spondylarthritides. This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of anti-TNFalpha therapy with etanercept, a 75-kd receptor fusion protein, in active AS. ⋯ This study shows that on a short-term basis (3 months), treatment with etanercept is clearly efficacious in patients with active AS who are receiving NSAID therapy but not DMARDs or steroids. After cessation of therapy, almost all patients experienced a relapse within a few weeks. Thus, it seems probable that etanercept must be administered continuously in most AS patients to achieve permanent inhibition of the inflammatory process.