Relationship of the clinical efficiency of tocilizumab therapy to the serum level of matrix metalloproteinase-3 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the impact of tocilizumab (TCZ) therapy on the level of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) 4, 24, and 48 weeks after treatment initiation in relation to the clinical efficiency of TCZ therapy by the Disease Activity Score (DAS28), the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), and the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI)/MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-two rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who had received 6 intravenous infusions of TCZ 8 mg/kg at a 4-week interval during permanent therapy with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARD) and glucocorticosteroids (GCS) were examined. Then TCZ was discontinued and the patients continued to receive the previous therapy with DMARD and GCS. The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) classification criteria, as well as SDAI and CDAI were used to evaluate the efficiency of TCZ therapy. The serum concentration of MMP-3 was measured by enzyme immunoassay using the test systems (Invitrogen, USA)/RESULTS: After 24 weeks of TCZ therapy (at 48 weeks following trial initiation), DAS28 was 4.69 (3.86; 5.44); the SDAI of 17.8 (10.7; 29.5) and the CDAI of 17.1 (7.2; 26.2) corresponded to moderate disease activity. At 48 weeks, DAS28 remission (

Keywords

• rheumatoid arthritis
• tocilizumab
• simplified disease activity index (sdai)
• clinical disease activity index (cdai)
• matrix metalloproteinase-3
• sdai
• cdai