RESEARCH - Humira may stop bone loss in RA

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Adalimumab May Stop Bone Loss With Rheumatoid Arthritis

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 26 - Treatment with the anti-tumor

necrosis factor antibody adalimumab may arrest bone loss in patients

with rheumatoid arthritis, according to study results reported in the

March issue of the ls of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Findings from the study also support previous research suggesting that

low-dose corticosteroid therapy has a net beneficial effect on bone

mineral density (BMD) in rheumatoid arthritis patients. This, the

authors note, may be the result of their anti-inflammatory properties.

To assess the impact of TNF blockade on bone loss with rheumatoid

arthritis, Dr. P. P. Tak, from the University of Amsterdam, the

Netherlands, and colleagues measured femur neck and lumbar spine BMD

before and 1 year after treatment with adalimumab in 50 patients. All

of the subjects were on stable doses of methotrexate and were

permitted to use prednisone (10 mg/day or less).

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Read the full article here:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/588754

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