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Study: TNF inhibitors improve bone mineral density
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Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors increased Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Scores and bone mineral density in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, according to researchers of this longitudinal study.
To examine the impact of these drugs on bone mineral density (BMD) and radiographic progression of ankylosing spondylitis, the investigators compared 26 patients who were given tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors and a control group of 37 patients who were not given the medication. DEXA was used to measure patients’ lumbar spines and right femurs at baseline, and 1- year and 2-years follow-up. Patients underwent lumbar spine radiographs at baseline and 2 years. The researchers measured radiographic progression using the Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score and assessed factors associated with an increase in spinal BMD.
The patients on TNF inhibitors showed an increase in BMD at the lumbar spine and proximal femur at 2 years. Compared with the control group, patients in the TNF group had an increase in their Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Scores. Although the investigators found no difference in sydesmophyte development between the groups, they noted that TNF inhibitors and increased Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Scores were associated with increases in lumbar spine BMD.
"Further prospective studies with larger subject numbers are needed to validate this paradoxical role of TNF inhibitors," the authors wrote in their study.
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