Anakinra Safe in High-Risk Arthritis Patients

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Anakinra Safe in High-Risk Arthritis Patients

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jul 27 - Daily use of the IL-1 receptor antagonist

anakinra in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and concurrent comorbidities

appears to be safe, according to the results of a study of more than 1400

patients.

In the June issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, Dr. H. Schiff of the

Denver Arthritis Clinic and colleagues note that the agent has proved safe

in diverse populations with rheumatoid arthritis, but it is not known

whether this is the case in patients with concurrent comorbidities.

To investigate further, the researchers randomized 1116 subjects to daily

treatment with anakinra and 283 to placebo. In all about 68% patients in

each group had one or more comorbidities. Among these were coronary artery

disease, COPD, diabetes and renal impairment.

Following 6 months of daily injections, analysis showed that there was no

difference in the incidence of serious adverse events between groups.

Furthermore, the incidence of serious infections, such as pneumonia, in

anakinra recipients was similar in high-risk patients (2.5%) and the entire

study group (2.1%).

There was a trend towards an increased risk of serious infection in those

with a pulmonary comorbidity (3.4%) compared to those without (1.6%).

However, this did not reach statistical significance.

The researchers conclude that the agent's favorable safety profile is

" maintained in a high-risk patient population. "

Arthritis Rheum 2004;50:1752-1760.