Imaging study: Patients on anti-TNF therapy had improvement in bone microarchitecture in first 3 months

MADRID — Patients on anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy had less erosion progression and deterioration of bone microarchitecture within the first 3 months of treatment compared with patients treated with methotrexate alone, according to a presentation at the EULAR Annual Congress.

“We found anti-TNF therapy can prevent erosion progression and deterioration of bone microarchitecture within the first 3 months of treatment,” Tomohiro Shimizu, MD, from the University of California San Francisco, said in his presentation.

Shimizu and colleagues assessed 26 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who underwent 3T-MRI wrist scans and high-resolution peripheral quantitative CT scans of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and wrist joints at baseline and again at 3 months. Patients were categorized into two groups based on treatment with either anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors or methotrexate alone.

From baseline to 3 months, the investigators found patients in the anti-TNF group had significant improvements in DAS-28 scores and had a significant decline of erosion volume. The methotrexate only group had a significant increase in erosion volume, despite low disease activity.

In addition, the anti-TNF group had a significant increase in joint space width and had a significant decrease in volume of the MCP joints and were linked with changes in erosion volume. Moreover, changes in erosion volume were negatively linked with changes in trabecular bone mineral density in the anti-TNF group. – by Will A. Offit

Reference:

Shimizu T, et al. Abstract #OP0020. Presented at: EULAR Annual Congress; June 14-17, 2017; Madrid.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.