RESUMO
Seventy patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) completing a 12-week multicenter double blind trial comparing recombinant human interferon-gamma (r-IFN-gamma) with placebo were enrolled in a longterm prospective protocol evaluating r-IFN-gamma in RA. Forty (57%) patients after 1 year and 26 (37%) patients after 2 years continued the drug with sustained clinical benefit. Over 2 years, r-IFN-gamma was discontinued in 44 patients (lack of efficacy--25, withdrawn consent--7, noncompliant--4, suspected adverse drug reactions--2, concurrent illness--6). Two years of treatment with r-IFN-gamma were well tolerated with sustained clinical benefit in some patients with few significant adverse drug reactions.
Assuntos
Artrite Reumatoide/tratamento farmacológico , Interferon gama/uso terapêutico , Artrite Reumatoide/sangue , Artrite Reumatoide/fisiopatologia , Contagem de Células Sanguíneas , Seguimentos , Humanos , Interferon gama/efeitos adversos , Articulações/fisiopatologia , Dor , Estudos Prospectivos , Proteínas RecombinantesRESUMO
One hundred five patients were enrolled in a 12-week, randomized, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of recombinant human gamma-interferon (rHu gamma-IFN) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Fifty-four patients received rHu gamma-IFN and 51 received placebo. Forty-two patients in each group completed the 12-week trial. Some clinical improvement occurred in both groups of patients. Although the improvement with rHu gamma-IFN was greater than that with placebo, the differences were generally not statistically significant.