The prediction and long-term maintenance of low disease activity during therapy with disease modifying anti-inflammatory drugs for rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Therapy with biological agents (biologics) over the past few years has become an important part of the strategy of medical treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who respond insufficiently to the disease modifying anti-inflammatory drugs. The possibility to predict response to biologics is of special importance. Factors associated with good response to TNF-inhibitors are very different: age, liver and kidney function, body mass index, concomitant therapy, immunogenicity, the presence of ACPA and the rheumatoid factor, the cytokine profile, genetics, smoking, previous therapy by biologics etc. Another factor that significantly affects the long-term prognosis of biologic therapy is the primary response to treatment. Inhibitors of TNF-α as a whole is characterized by the development of the most marked clinical response within the first 12–24 weeks of treatment that can sustain for 12 months or more. Certolizumab pegol is characterized by rapid development of marked clinical response to treatment against disease activity and function with maintaining consistent improvement over the years, and the prognosis can be determined in most patients by the response to therapy in the first 12 weeks. We present a clinical case.