Methotrexate, Anakinra Combination Alternative For Disease Control.(of rheumatoid arthritis)

2001 DEC 6 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- People with rheumatoid arthritis who take methotrexate but continue to have active arthritis may have further improvement in arthritis control with the addition of a new injectable treatment called anakinra, according to research presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, California.

The results of this study confirm previous findings that anakinra (IL-1ra), an inhibitor of interleukin-1, is effective in improving signs and symptoms and physical function of rheumatoid arthritis patients with active disease despite on-going methotrexate treatment. Additionally, anakinra was well tolerated with the most common adverse event reported being injection site reactions that occurred early and generally resolved as treatment continued. In this study, serious infectious episodes were rare and occurred at equal frequency among the placebo and actively treated ...