Tofacitinib in baseline treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: own clinical experience

Abstract

The article tells about the results of an open 6-month clinical trial of the innovative drug tofacitinib (trade name Jakvinus), the first oral janus kinase inhibitor, in the treatment of 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who failed previous therapy. The study found that a daily dose of 10 mg of tofacitinib (TOFA) has high therapeutic efficacy and good tolerability. TOFA monotherapy (7 patients) and combination treatment with standard baseline medicines such as methotrexate or leflunomide (8 patients) was associated with a significant decrease in mean values of all the analyzed indices of RA activity (DAS28, CDAI, SDAI, RAPID), and a significant clinical improvement of ACR 20/50/70 criteria. The positive dynamics of the basic clinical parameters defining the severity of articular syndrome was combined with decreased levels of immune-inflammatory markers: C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor in blood, and even resulted in seroconversion in two patients. No critical side effects requiring withdrawal or administration of complementary therapy for managing adverse events were observed in the studied group. The findings allowed to conclude that tofacitinib monotherapy and its combination with traditional disease-modifying drugs enhances RA therapy and thus can be recommended for the treatment of RA after failure of standard baseline therapies or contraindications to their use.