Search results for "tumor necrosis factor-α blocker"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Safety of anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
2008
The prevalence of concurrent rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is probably underestimated because of the increasing spread of this virus worldwide, especially in developing countries. In these patients, anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-alpha) therapy may aggravate hepatitis and increase viremia. We evaluated the safety of these treatments, which remain controversial.Thirty-one HCV-positive patients (23 women, 8 men, mean age 59+/-13 yrs, mean disease duration 13+/-11.5 SD yrs) with active RA [Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28)3.2] unresponsive to conventional therapies were treated with TNF-alpha blockers (infliximab 11, etanercept 17, adalimumab 3) at…
Good clinical response, remission, and predictors of remission in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with tumor necrosis factor-α blockers: The GI…
2007
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of good clinical response and remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with longstanding disease treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) drugs at outpatient clinics. METHODS: Retrospective national study of 14 academic tertiary referral rheumatology medical centers. RA patients with a Disease Activity Score (DAS28) > 3.2 were defined as having active disease and could start TNF-alpha blockers. All patients received one TNF-alpha blocker plus methotrexate (10-20 mg/wk). At the third month the patients were categorized as responders or nonresponders, based on improvement of at least 0.25 of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ).…