Humira stops bone loss with rheumatoid arthritis

Treatment with the antibody drug Humira (adalimumab) may arrest bone loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to study results reported in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Findings from the study also support previous research suggesting that low-dose steroid therapy has a beneficial effect on bone thickness in rheumatoid arthritis patients. This, the authors note, may be the result of their anti-inflammatory properties.

Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system attacks the tissues that line the joints, leading to pain, inflammation and deformity. Rheumatoid arthritis is more common in women than in men, and often strikes people in their 30s or 40s.

If the disease is inadequately controlled, the tissues of the joint are eventually destroyed. There is no cure for RA, which is estimated to affect more than 2 million individuals in the US alone.

In the present study, Dr. P. P. Tak, from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues measured bone thickness in the spine and leg before and 1 year after treatment with Humira in 50 patients. All of the subjects were being treated with the immune drug methotrexate and were permitted to use the steroid prednisone at a low dose.

When the study began, the amount of bone loss was greatest in subjects with severe rheumatoid arthritis and those who had had the disease for many years.

In contrast to what is usually seen with antirheumatic drugs, the current study group showed no significant bone loss during the 1-year study period.

The authors note that the findings are similar to those seen in a previous study looking at Remicade (infliximab), a drug in the same class as Humira.

SOURCE: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, March 2009.