Well-Known RA Drug Lowers Anemia Markers

Tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment may lead to significant improvement in the anemia biomarkers hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Hct) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with and without anemia, a recent study found.

For their study, the researchers identified patients with RA who received their diagnosis between January 2000 and April 2016. Patient data were obtained from US Centricity Electronic Medical Records.
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All patients included in the study had initiated either TCZ (n=3732), tofacitinib (n=3126), other biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs, n=55,964), or other non-biologic DMARDs (n=91,236). The researchers observed each patient for changes in hemoglobin Hb and Hct over a period of 2 years of treatment initiation.

Findings showed that patients in the TCZ group had a 0.23 g/dL mean adjusted increase in Hb levels and a 0.96% increase in Hct levels at 24 months. In particular, TCZ patients with anemia had significant increases in Hb and Hct of 0.72 g/dL and 2.06%, respectively.

Ultimately, the researchers found that patients on TCZ had an 86% greater chance of increasing their Hb levels by at least 1 g/dL vs all other groups combined. However, they observed no significant changes in Hb in the other groups.

Furthermore, those who initiated TCZ therapy within 1 year of diagnosis had a 95% greater chance of increasing their Hb levels within 6 months vs those who initiated after 1 year post-diagnosis.

“This real-world study suggests significant increase in Hb and Hct levels after TCZ therapy in anemic and non-anemic patients with rheumatoid arthritis, compared with other biologic and non-biologic DMARDs,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Paul SK, Montvida O, Best JH, Gale S, Pethoe-Schramm A, Sarsour K. Effectiveness of biologic and non-biologic antirheumatic drugs on anemia markers in 153,788 patients with rheumatoid arthritis: new evidence from real-world data. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2018;47(4):478-484. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2017.08.001.