Vol.23 No.5

Original Article

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of etanercept 50 mg once weekly in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis and comparison with 25 mg etanercept twice weekly

Authors

Takeshi Mochizuki1 , Shigeki Momohara2 , Koichio Yano2 , Toshikatsu Shirahata3 , Katsunori Ikari2

  • Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kamagaya General Hospital, 929-6 Hatsutomi, Kamagaya Chiba, 273-0121, Japan
  • Institute of Rheumatology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
  • Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chibanishi General Hospital, Chiba, Japan
Received:

19 July 2012

Accepted:

17 October 2012

Published online:

9 November 2012

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Abstract

Objective Tumor necrosis factor-a inhibitors have been
available in recent years for treating early and established
rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Twice-weekly administration of
25 mg etanercept (ETN) has demonstrated efficacy and
safety. The objective of this study was to evaluate the
efficacy of once-weekly administration of 50 mg ETN
(ETN50), and to compare it with that of twice-weekly
administration of 25 mg ETN (ETN25).
Methods The ETN50 group comprised 29 patients and
the ETN25 group 26. The analysis compared changes from
baseline in Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28)?C
reactive protein (CRP) and DAS28?erythrocyte sedimentation
rate (ESR) between the ETN50 and ETN25 groups.
Results Overall, 42.3 % of ETN50 patients achieved
DAS28?ESR remission (\2.6), and 76.9 % experienced
low disease activity at 24 weeks. Patients in the ETN50
group also experienced more significant improvement in
DAS28?ESR at 4 weeks, higher DAS28?ESR remission
rates, and lower disease activity rates than ETN25 group
patients. No serious adverse events were experienced in the
safety analysis set (ETN50 group).
Conclusion These results suggest that ETN50 can lead to
earlier remission and higher remission rates compared with
ETN25 in patients with RA.

Key words

Rheumatoid arthritis, Etanercept, Disease activity score, Remission