Categories: Knee Arthritis

Effects of IL-6, JAK, TNF inhibitors and CTLA4-Ig on knee complaints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Factors that contribute to the relief of knee complaints

From January 2010 to August 2023, a total of 2,321 patients started b/tsDMARD treatment (Fig. 1). Of these, 573 had knee pain and/or swelling at the time of starting b/tsDMARDs (considered baseline). Six months later, 438 individuals returned for follow-up and swelling and/or tender joints were recorded. We excluded patients who had undergone total knee arthroplasty on the symptomatic side (N = 18) and those who had undergone TKA during the follow-up period (N= 7). As a result, 413 patients were included in the study (Supplementary Table S1). We then focused on patients who continued b/tsDMARDs for at least 3 months. Consequently, 295 cases were analyzed. The mean age at baseline was 60.9 years, ACPA positivity was 78.3%, RF positivity was 76.6%, females were 85.1%, and the mean RA duration was nine years (Table 1).

Figure 1
Table 1 Demographics and disease characteristics of patients with knee joint symptoms at baseline of b/tsDMARD treatment who continued the medication for 3 months and had knee joint symptoms at 6 months.

The symptom relief at 6 months in patients who continued b/tsDMARDs for 3 months was 78.2% for IL-6 inhibitors, 68.6% for JAK inhibitors, 65.9% for TNF inhibitors, and 57.6% for CTLA4-Ig (P< 0.01, Figure 2). The rates of knee joint symptom relief at 3 months were 66.3% for IL-6 inhibitors, 51.2% for JAK inhibitors, 61.4% for TNF inhibitors, and 55.6% for CTLA4-Ig, without statistical significance (P= 0.32, Supplementary Figure S1a). Significant differences were observed in the proportion of improvement in knee joint symptoms between 3 and 6 months for all b/tsDMARDs. Notably, further improvement in knee joint symptoms from 3 to 6 months was noted for both IL-6 and JAK inhibitors (Supplementary Figure S1b).

Figure 2

Percentages of relief of knee joint symptoms after 6 months of treatment, categorized by mode of action of each drug, in patients with knee joint symptoms at initiation of treatment with biologic/targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) who continued therapy for 3 months. IL-6, interleukin 6; JAK, Janus kinase; CTLA4-Ig, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4-Ig; TNF, tumor necrosis factor. ** P< 0.01 according to the Cochran-Armitage trend test.

Three months after initiation, the continuation rate was 76.5% for IL-6 inhibitors, 74.5% for JAK inhibitors, 63.1% for TNF inhibitors, and 85.5% for CTLA4-Ig (P< 0.01; Figure 3a).

figure 3

Continuation rates and disease activity for each drug.a) The percentage of patients with knee joint symptoms at baseline of b/tsDMARD treatment who continued therapy for 3 months. **; P< 0.01, by Chi-square test (B) Basic disease activity (C) Disease activity after 3 months of treatment.D) The difference in disease activity from baseline after 3 months of treatment.and) Disease activity after 6 months of treatment.F) The difference in disease activity from baseline after 6 months of treatment. *; P< 0.05, **; P< 0.01, ***; P< 0.001 by the Steel-Dwass test. DAS28-ESR, disease activity score 28-joint count with erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CDAI, clinical disease activity index; SDAI, simplified disease activity index

In patients who continued b/tsDMARDs after 3 months, disease activity (DAS28-ESR, disease activity score 28-joint count with erythrocyte sedimentation rate [DAS28-ESR]clinical disease activity index [CDAI]and simplified disease activity index [SDAI]) improved at 3 and 6 months compared to baseline (Fig. 3b–f). Although differences were observed in the values ​​of DAS28-ESR, CDAI and SDAI at 3 and 6 months, as well as differences from baseline, between these drugs, IL-6 inhibitors were not inferior to the other drugs in any of these indicators.

When examining treatments associated with relief of knee joint symptoms in patients who continued b/tsDMARD therapy beyond 3 months, the use of IL-6 inhibitors emerged as a significant contributing factor, surpassing TNF inhibitors in resolution of knee joint symptoms (Fig. 4, odds ratio [OR] 2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–4.3, P= 0.03) or CTLA4-Ig (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.4–6.5, P= 0.005). The OR for relief of knee joint symptoms with b/tsDMARDs as first-line treatment was 1.72 (95% CI 0.99–2.99, P= 0.05). Methotrexate (MTX) or glucocorticoid use did not appear to be a significant risk factor.

Figure 4

Multivariable logistic regression analysis of relief of knee joint symptoms after 6 months of treatment. MTX, methotrexate.

Factors contributing to the inhibition of the destruction of the knee joint

Next, we focused on 141 patients who continued b/tsDMARD therapy for 3 months and underwent knee joint radiography at baseline and 2 years later. At baseline, there were no significant differences in disease activity as measured by DAS28-ESR, SDAI, and CDAI (Supplementary Table S2). At 3 months, DAS28-ESR was higher in patients using JAK inhibitors and CTLA4-Ig, 4.0 and 4.1, respectively, compared with 3.0 in patients using IL-6 inhibitors. MTX use was lower in CTLA4-Ig users; however, this difference was not statistically significant. In addition, the rate of use of JAK inhibitors as first-line b/tsDMARDs was lower.

At baseline, there were no significant differences in Larsen grade between the different drugs (Fig. 5a). Over two years, excluding progression from grade 0 to grade I, worsening of Larsen grade was observed in 5.2% of patients treated with IL-6 inhibitors, 6.3% with JAK inhibitors, 19.4% with TNF inhibitors and 28% with CTLA4-Ig (Fig. 5b, P< 0.01).

Figure 5

Radiographic examination of the knee.a) X-ray of the knee at the start of treatment and after two years, assessed based on the Larsen grade.B) Percentage of patients with progression in Larsen grade on radiographs from baseline to two years, excluding progression from grade 0 to I. **; P< 0.01 according to the Cochran-Armitage trend test.C) Factors contributing to progression of Larsen grade on radiographs from baseline to two years, using multivariable logistic regression analysis.

In line with this, when considering the use of MTX, glucocorticoids, the use of b/tsDMARDs as first-line treatment and the mode of action as covariates, the use of IL-6 inhibitors emerged as a protective factor against knee joint deterioration compared with CTLA4-Ig (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.02–0.78, P= 0.02, Figure 5c).

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