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The use of low-dose etanercept as an alternative therapy for treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a case series

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Abstract

During recent decades, biological medications play a crucial role for treating rheumatologic disorders and thus are strongly recommended for initial treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. However, because of high cost of biological drugs, the use of these drugs has been limited. In current series, we tried to assess safety of low-dose etanercept as a common usable biological drug in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. In a case-series study, 4 men with ankylosing spondylitis were treated with low-dose Etanercept (25 mg/2 weeks) plus methotrexate (10 mg/week). Safety was assessed by measuring rate of differences in severity of clinical manifestations and level of C-reactive protein (CRP). After the completion of treatment with low-dose etanercept, inflammatory low back pain and morning stiffness was reduced lower than 30 min in all patients. Only one patient had baseline high serum ESR and positive CRP that was changed to negative following treatment protocol. At one-year follow-up, all participants continued their regular treatment regimen with the etanercept survival rate 100%. Neither side effects related to drug nor clinical complications were observed within the follow-up period. Our findings suggest that low-dose etanercept (25 mg/2 weeks) has an acceptable safety and effectiveness profile in individuals with ankylosing spondylitis and can be good alternative instead of conventional therapy with etanercept (25 mg two times per week).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheumatology Department, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran

    Jamileh Moghimi

  2. Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mehrdad Sheikhvatan

  3. Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran

    Vahid Semnani

Authors
  1. Jamileh Moghimi
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  2. Mehrdad Sheikhvatan
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  3. Vahid Semnani
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Correspondence to Jamileh Moghimi.

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Moghimi, J., Sheikhvatan, M. & Semnani, V. The use of low-dose etanercept as an alternative therapy for treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a case series. Rheumatol Int 32, 2271–2274 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-1920-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-1920-0

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