A study published in PLOS One examining the effectiveness of Actemra (tocilizumab) in biologic-naïve patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) found that Actemra was more effective at achieving lower baseline serum osteopontin (OPN) levels, than Remicade (infliximab).
The study concluded that low serum OPN levels predict clinical remission after 1 year of Actemra (N=70) treatment but not Remicade (N=57) treatment. This study provides insights into how to optimize the choice of RA treatment with biologics.
Results Showed That:
- The rate of DAS28 remission in the Actemra group was significantly higher than in the Remicade group (68.6% vs 47.4%; P = 0.0189).
- Twenty-five percent of the Actemra group used the treatment without MTX, while 100% of patients using Remicade were treated in combination with methotrexate.
- For patients who are intolerant of methotrexate, Actemra is preferably selected
- There were no predictors of clinical remission found in the Remicade group based on the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI).
- Results were similar when using the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) remission and DAS28-ESR remission.
Additional Study Information: Patients were enrolled in February 2010 and observed for at least one year as of April 2013. Researchers assessed baseline variables, including patient characteristics and serum biomarker levels (including full-length OPN) to extract factors associated with clinical remission at one year using univariate analyses. Extracted factors were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model.