Effectiveness and treatment retention of TNF inhibitors when used as monotherapy versus comedication with csDMARDs in 15 332 patients with psoriatic arthritis. Data from the EuroSpA collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Comedication with conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) during treatment with tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) is extensively used in psoriatic arthritis (PsA), although the additive benefit remains unclear. We aimed to compare treatment outcomes in patients with PsA treated with TNFi and csDMARD comedication versus TNFi monotherapy.

METHODS

Patients with PsA from 13 European countries who initiated a first TNFi in 2006-2017 were included. Country-specific comparisons of 1 year TNFi retention were performed by csDMARD comedication status, together with HRs for TNFi discontinuation (comedication vs monotherapy), adjusted for age, sex, calendar year, disease duration and Disease Activity Score with 28 joints (DAS28). Adjusted ORs of clinical remission (based on DAS28) at 12 months were calculated. Between-country heterogeneity was assessed using random-effect meta-analyses, combined results were presented when heterogeneity was not significant. Secondary analyses stratified according to TNFi subtype (adalimumab/infliximab/etanercept) and restricted to methotrexate as comedication were performed.

RESULTS

In total, 15 332 patients were included (62% comedication, 38% monotherapy). TNFi retention varied across countries, with significant heterogeneity precluding a combined estimate. Comedication was associated with better remission rates, pooled OR 1.25 (1.12-1.41). Methotrexate comedication was associated with improved remission for adalimumab (OR 1.45 (1.23-1.72)) and infliximab (OR 1.55 (1.21-1.98)) and improved retention for infliximab. No effect of comedication was demonstrated for etanercept.

CONCLUSION

This large observational study suggests that, as used in clinical practice, csDMARD and TNFi comedication are associated with improved remission rates, and specifically, comedication with methotrexate increases remission rates for both adalimumab and infliximab.

Informations de copyright

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: BeG reports grants from BMS, grants from Pfizer, grants from AbbVie, outside the submitted work. AC reports consultancy and speaker fees from Abbvie, Eli Lilly, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis and Pfizer. MP-S reports speaker and research fees from Gilead, Janssen, MSD and Sanofi. KE reports consulting fees from Lilly, Biogene, Sobi, Pfizer and Gilead. HR reports personal fees from AbbVie, personal fees from Roche, personal fees from Pfizer, outside the submitted work. BjG reports other from Novartis, other from Amgen, outside the submitted work. GTJ reports grants from AbbVie, grants from Pfizer, grants from UCB, grants from Celgene / Amgen, grants from GSK, outside the submitted work. CC reports speaker fees and grants from AbbVie, Amgen, Egis, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB. RI reports speaker fee from Abbvie, Amgen, Novartis, Pfizer, Lilly and UCB. JZ reports speaker and consulting fees from Elli-Lilly, Abbvie, Novartis and UCB. SY reports speaker fees from Abbvie, MSD, Novartis, UCB, Sanofi and Pfizer. BM reports grants and personal fees from Novartis, outside the submitted work. ZR reports speaker fees, consultancy fees and support to biorx.si registry by, AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Medias, Medis, MSD, Novartis, OPH Oktal Pharma, Sandoz and Pfizer. MTreports speaker fees, consultancy fees and support to biorx.si registry by, AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Medias, Medis, MSD, Novartis, OPH Oktal Pharma, Sandoz and Pfizer. FI reports consultancy fees and/or speaker honoraria from Pfizer, AbbVie, MSD, BMS, Lilly, Novartis, Sanofi, Celgene and UCB, outside this work. MJS reports personal fees from Abbvie, Novartis and Pfizer, outside the submitted work. PA-R reports research grant (paid to academic research institute) from Novartis. LMØ reports grants from Novartis, during the conduct of the study. MØ reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from AbbVie, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from BMS, personal fees from Boehringer-Ingelheim, personal fees from Eli Lilly, personal fees and non-financial support from Janssen, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Merck, personal fees and non-financial support from Pfizer, personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from UCB, grants and personal fees from Celgene, personal fees from Sanofi, personal fees from Regeneron, grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Novartis, personal fees from Gilead, outside the submitted work. LJ reports lecture and consulting fees from Pfizer, Abbvie, Novartis, Eli-Lily and Janssen. JA reports grants from Abbvie, Astra-Zeneca, BMS, Eli Lilly, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, and UCB, outside the submitted work. MN reports research and consulting fees from Abbvie, Celgene, Eli-Lilly, Janssen, Novartis and Pfizer.