FRIDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Tiny changes in synovial
tissue may be biomarkers of patient response to spondylarthritis (SpA) therapy, according to a study published online May 25 by Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Dominique Baeten, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Amsterdam Academic Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues studied 52 SpA patients, including 20 treated with infliximab, 20 treated with etanercept and 12 controls. At baseline and after 12 weeks, the researchers performed synovial biopsies on each patient and evaluated the tissue samples.
The researchers found that symptoms significantly improved in both treatment groups but did not improve in the control group. They associated the treatment response with changes in synovial macrophage subsets, polymorphonuclear levels and metalloproteinase-3 expression.
"The ability of these parameters to correctly identify effective therapy makes them interesting biomarkers for use in early-phase clinical trials in SpA," the authors conclude. "Further studies are needed to confirm their value as biomarkers at early time points across different therapeutic regimens and to combine synovial assessment with predictors of axial response to treatment in SpA."
Abstract
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