Vol.23 No.5

Original Article

Clinical efficacy of abatacept in Japanese rheumatoid arthritis patients

Authors

Nobunori Takahashi1 , Toshihisa Kojima1 , Kenya Terabe1 , Atsushi Kaneko2 , Daihei Kida2 , Yuji Hirano3 , Takayoshi Fujibayashi4 , Yuichiro Yabe5 , Hideki Takagi6 , Takeshi Oguchi7 , Hiroyuki Miyake8 , Takefumi Kato9

  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rheumatology, Nagoya University Hospital, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, 65 Tsuruma-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya Aichi, 466-8550, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rheumatology, Nagoya Medical Center, 4-1-1 Sanno-maru, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
  • Department of Rheumatology, Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, 50 Hakken-nishi, Aotake-cho, Toyohashi, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Konan Kosei Hospital, 137 Oomatsubara, Takaya-cho, Konan, Aichi, Japan
  • Department of Rheumatology, Tokyo Kosei Nenkin Hospital, 5-1 Tsukudo-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Nagoya Kyoritsu Hospital, 1-172 Hokke, Nakagawa-ku, Nagoya, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Anjo Kosei Hospital, 28 Higashihirokute, Anjo, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Ichinomiya Municipal Hospital, 2-2-22 Bunkyo, Ichinomiya, Japan
  • Kato Orthopedic Clinic, 8-4 Minami-myoudaiji-cho, Okazaki, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Kariya-Toyota General Hospital, 5-15 Sumiyoshi-cho, Kariya, Japan
  • Department of Rheumatology, Nagano Red Cross Hospital, 5-22-1 Wakazato, Nagano, Japan
  • Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Shizuoka Kosei Hospital, 23 Kitaban-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
Received:

24 May 2012

Accepted:

24 August 2012

Published online:

14 September 2012

Full Text

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Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to examine the
treatment retention and efficacy of abatacept, the first
member of a new class of biologic agents, in Japanese
rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients during clinical practice.
Methods A retrospective multicenter study was conducted
with patients who underwent abatacept therapy for
24 weeks (n = 143).
Results Patients at baseline had a mean age of 63.5 years,
a mean disease duration of 11.3 years, and a mean disease
activity score in 28 joints (DAS28) of 4.5. Overall retention
of abatacept treatment was 83.2 % at 24 weeks, when
46.2 % of patients achieved DAS28-defined low disease
activity (LDA; DAS28\3.2) and 26.6 % achieved DAS28-
defined remission (DAS28\2.6). LDA was achieved in a
significantly higher proportion of patients without prior
biologics therapy compared to those with prior biologics
(60.9 vs. 34.2 %, p = 0.001). There was no significant
difference between patients with or without concomitant
methotrexate (MTX) therapy (45.2 vs. 47.5 %).

Key words

Abatacept, Concomitant methotrexate, Japanese patients, Prior biologics, Rheumatoid arthritis