Infliximab May Reduce Progression of Ankylosing Spondylitis

By Megan Rauscher
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Sept 30 - Treatment with the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha antibody infliximab may slow radiographic progression of spinal lesions in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), German researchers report in the October issue of Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
As senior investigator Dr. Juergen Braun from Ruhr University in Bochum, told Reuters Health, anti-TNF therapy is a "major advance in the treatment of AS, an, in part, debilitating disease that mainly affects rather young male and female patients."
"There is evidence that therapy for example with infliximab leads to significant and clinically relevant improvement of signs and symptoms of the disease" he added, "which also includes improvement of function and quality of life."
To study the effect of infliximab on the radiographic course of AS, the investigators analyzed complete sets of lateral radiographs of the cervical spine and lumbar spine in 82 patients. Forty-one were treated with infliximab 5 mg/kg intravenously every 6 weeks and 41 were treated conventionally.
Patients treated with infliximab showed less radiographic change over 2 years, despite being older, having AS for a longer period of time and having a higher level of radiographic damage at baseline, all of which were predictive of more damage over time.
Nevertheless, the authors conclude that "larger studies are needed to prove that anti-TNF treatment inhibits structural damage" in AS.
Ann Rheum Dis 2005;64:1462-1466.