Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kremer, Joel M
• Westhovens, Rene
• Leon, Marc
• Di Giorgio, Eduardo
• Alten, Rieke
• Steinfeld, Serge
• Russell, Anthony
• Dougados, Maxime
• Emery, Paul
• Nuamah, Isaac F
• Williams, G. Rhys
• Becker, Jean-Claude
• Hagerty, David T
• Moreland, Larry W

Titel

Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis by Selective Inhibition of T-Cell Activation with Fusion Protein CTLA4Ig

Ist Teil von

• The New England journal of medicine, 2003-11, Vol.349 (20), p.1907-1915

Ort / Verlag

Boston, MA: Massachusetts Medical Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This randomized trial assessed the efficacy of CTLA4Ig, a novel agent that prevents T-cell activation, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. After six months of treatment, 60 percent of patients treated with 10 mg of CTLA4Ig per kilogram of body weight had an improvement in the symptoms and signs of rheumatoid arthritis of at least 20 percent, as compared with 35 percent of patients in the placebo group. Blocking activation of T cells, an effective new treatment. Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease that causes progressive joint damage and disability. 1 The macrophage is an important pathogenic mediator in rheumatoid arthritis, and cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 are therapeutic targets. Drugs that block TNF-α decrease joint inflammation and slow radiographic progression. 2 – 8 However, since only approximately 40 percent of patients have an improvement of 50 percent, according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), during treatment with TNF-α inhibitors, effective therapies directed against novel targets are needed. Class II major-histocompatibility-complex (MHC) phenotype confers susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. 9 HLA-DR1 and DR4 . . .