Injections of infliximab 'not effective for knee joint inflammation'

Infliximab injections directly into a chronically inflamed knee joint are not effective, a new study has found.

The treatment (brand name Remicade) is part of a class of drugs called anti-TNF, pioneered and developed by the Arthritis Research Campaign for the treatment of severe rheumatoid arthritis.

Anti-TNF work by reducing levels of a protein called TNF, excessive amounts of which cause inflammation when built up in the joints or bloodstream.

Infliximab injections are prescribed to people with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis and occasionally to ankylosing spondylitis patients. The drug is administered through intravenous injections (through a drip into the vein).

However, researchers have now suggested that intra-articular injections (injections directly into the affected joint) of the drug are not effective.

A team led by Dr van der Bijl of Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands studied 23 patients with a chronically inflamed knee joint.

The study participants were given intra-articular injections of either infliximab or a steroid called methylprednisolone.

"All patients treated with intra-articular infliximab had an insufficient response. In contrast, eight of the 21 intra-articular methylprednisolone injections were effective," the researchers wrote in the journal Arthritis Care and Research.

"Treatment with intra-articular infliximab injection was not effective in patients with a chronically inflamed knee joint. Intra-articular injection with methylprednisolone was superior despite previous intra-articular corticosteroid therapy. Further investigation is needed to provide these patients with a better alternative."

A spokeswoman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said that steroid injections administered directly into the affected joint provided excellent but short-term pain relief for people with both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.




© Adfero Ltd

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