Summary: Background Not all patients with rheumatoid arthritis can tolerate or respond to methotrexate, a standard treatment for this disease. There is evidence that antitumour necrosis factor (TNF ) is efficacious in relief of signs and symptoms. We therefore investigated whether infliximab, a chimeric human-mouse anti-TNF monoclonal antibody would provide additional clinical benefit to patients who had active rheumatoid arthritis despite receiving methotrexate.Methods In an international double-blind placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial, 428 patients who had active rheumatoid arthritis, who had received continuous methotrexate for at least 3 months and at a stable dose for at least 4 weeks, were randomised to placebo (n=88) or one of four regimens of infliximab at weeks 0, 2, and 6. Additional infusions of the same dose were given every 4 or 8 weeks thereafter on a background of a stable dose of methotrexate (median 15 mg/week for 6 months, range 1035 mg/wk). Patients were assessed every 4 weeks for 30 weeks.Findings At 30 weeks, the American College of Rheumatology (20) response criteria, representing a 20 improvement from baseline, were achieved in 53, 50, 58, and 52 of patients receiving 3 mg/kg every 4 or 8 weeks or 10 mg/kg every 4 or 8 weeks, respectively, compared with 20 of patients receiving placebo plus methotrexate (p<0001 for each of the four infliximab regimens vs placebo). A 50 improvement was achieved in 29, 27, 26, and 31 of infliximab plus methotrexate in the same treatment groups, compared with 5 of patients on placebo plus methotrexate (p<0001). Infliximab was well-tolerated; withdrawals for adverse events as well as the occurrence of serious adverse events or serious infections did not exceed those in the placebo group.Interpretation During 30 weeks, treatment with infliximab plus methotrexate was more efficacious than methotrexate alone in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis not previously responding to methotrexate.

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   |wiki=    Sante
   |area=    ChloroquineV1
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   |texte=   Infliximab (chimeric anti-tumour necrosis factor monoclonal antibody) versus placebo in rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving concomitant methotrexate: a randomised phase III trial
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