Pilot trial of etanercept in the treatment of inclusion-body myositis

Neurology. 2006 Jan 24;66(2 Suppl 1):S123-4. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000192258.32408.54.

Abstract

Inclusion-body myositis (IBM) is an inflammatory muscle disease that has proven resistant to treatment. Tumor necrosis factor molecules have been detected in muscle biopsies from patients with IBM. Etanercept is a TNFalpha receptor fusion protein that binds and inactivates tumor necrosis factor. Nine patients were treated with etanercept at a dose of 25 mg, two times a week for an average of 17 +/- 6.1 months. Each patient was evaluated using quantitative strength testing. Their data were compared to two different control groups. The first control group consisted of patients who participated in trials of beta-interferon-1A and had received placebo. There was no significant difference. The second control group was a natural history cohort of IBM patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the treated group and the natural history group at 6 and 12 months when looking at elbow flexors, or 6 months when looking at hand grip. In the treated patients there was a small but significant improvement (p = 0.002) in handgrip at 12 months.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Cohort Studies
  • Disease Progression
  • Etanercept
  • Hand Strength
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G / therapeutic use*
  • Isometric Contraction / drug effects
  • Myositis, Inclusion Body / drug therapy*
  • Pilot Projects
  • Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / therapeutic use*
  • Treatment Failure

Substances

  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor
  • Etanercept