International Journal of Rheumatology (Jan 2024)

Association of Baseline Serum Soluble Tumour Necrosis Factor Receptor Levels with the Response of Rheumatoid Arthritis to Janus Kinase Inhibitor Therapy

  • Takahiro Yoshikawa,
  • Tetsuya Furukawa,
  • Teppei Hashimoto,
  • Naoto Azuma,
  • Kiyoshi Matsui

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/2898586
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2024

Abstract

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Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cytokines associated with tumour necrosis factor- (TNF-) α and interleukin- (IL-) 6 signalling could predict rheumatoid arthritis (RA) clinical remission (CR) with Janus kinase inhibitor (JAKinib) treatment using the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI). Methods. Eighty-nine patients with RA treated with JAKinibs were enrolled, and their clinical data were collected retrospectively. CR was defined as an SDAI≤3.3 after 6 months of treatment with JAKinib. The serum samples of 89 patients were analysed for IL-6, soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R), soluble gp130 (spg130), and soluble TNF receptor- (sTNFR-) I and sTNFR-II titres. Results. There were no significant differences in the baseline clinical parameters between the CR and non-CR groups. Serum levels of IL-6, sIL-6R, and sgp130 were not significantly different; whereas, the serum sTNFR-I and sTNFR-II levels were significantly lower in the CR group. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the baseline log sTNFR II values (OR: 0.002; p=0.034) were predictors of CR. Conclusions. Patients with RA can be stratified prior to JAKinib administration using serum sTNFR-I and sTNFR-II levels but not serum IL-6 axis cytokine levels (IL-6, sIL-6R, and sgp130).