Pilot trial of etanercept in the treatment of inclusion-body myositis.
Inclusion-body myositis (IBM) is an inflammatory muscle disease that has proven resistant to treatment. Tumor necrosis factor molecules have been detected in muscle biopsies from patients with IBM. Etanercept is a TNFalpha receptor fusion protein that binds and inactivates tumor necrosis factor. Nine patients were treated with etanercept at a dose of 25 mg, two times a week for an average of 17 +/- 6.1 months. Each patient was evaluated using quantitative strength testing. Their data were compared to two different control groups. The first control group consisted of patients who participated in trials of beta-interferon-1A and had received placebo. There was no significant difference. The second control group was a natural history cohort of IBM patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the treated group and the natural history group at 6 and 12 months when looking at elbow flexors, or 6 months when looking at hand grip. In the treated patients there was a small but significant improvement (p = 0.002) in handgrip at 12 months.
Barohn
R J
RJ
Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA. rbarohn@kumc.edu
Herbelin
L
L
Kissel
J T
JT
King
W
W
McVey
A L
AL
Saperstein
D S
DS
Mendell
J R
JR
D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D000068800:Etanercept; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007537:Isometric Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D018979:Myositis, Inclusion Body / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017211:Treatment Failure
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D000068800:Etanercept