title: Effects of the anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody, tocilizumab, on serum lipid levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: We investigated the effects of anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, tocilizumab (TCZ), on lipid metabolism. Nineteen patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), entered in clinical case-control study of SAMURAI trial at Sasebo Chuo Hospital, were examined. Nine patients received TCZ monotherapy at 8 mg/kg intravenously every 4 weeks (TCZ group) and 10 patients received conventional DMARDs (control group). Serum total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), apolipoprotein (Apo) A-1, Apo A-2 and Apo B as well as disease activity score (DAS), C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A protein were examined at baseline and after 3 months of the treatment. IL-6 inversely was correlated with LDL, Apo A-1 and Apo A-2, and also tended to correlate with Apo B. In TCZ group, serum levels of TC, HDL, LDL, Apo A-1 and Apo A-2 were significantly increased after 3 months treatment with TCZ. There was no significant change in Apo B, the atherogenic index, and TC/HDL by the TCZ treatment. Changes in the DAS28-ESR negatively correlated with those in TC. In one patient, whose serum level of TCZ was not detected after 3 months of the treatment, the absence of the increment in serum levels of Apo A-1 and A-2 in the patient was remarkable. All of the markers did not change during 3 months in control group. These data may raise an important issue to evaluate the impact of these alternations in lipid metabolism for longer periods in RA patients treated with TCZ.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Translational Medicine, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-7-1 Sakamoto, Nagasaki 852-8501, Japan. shinya22@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shin-ya
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kawashiri
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imazato
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujikawa
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aramaki
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamai
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ida
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Origuchi
authors.forename: Yukitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eguchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D008055:Lipids; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; C502936:tocilizumab