Efficacy of Biological-Targeted Treatments in Takayasu Arteritis Multicenter, Retrospective Study of 49 Patients

Background —To assess safety and efficacy of biologics (i.e. TNF-α antagonists and tocilizumab) in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA). Methods and Results —Retrospective multicenter study of characteristics and outcome of 49 TA patients [80% of females; median age 42 [20-55] years] treated by TNF-α antagonists (80%) or tocilizumab (20%)] and fulfilling ACR and/or Ishikawa criteria. Factors associated with complete response were assessed. Eighty-eight percent of TA patients were inadequately controlled with, or intolerant to, conventional immunosuppressive therapy [median number of 3 (1-5)]. Overall response (i.e. complete and partial) to biological-targeted treatments at 6 and 12 months was of 75% and 83%, respectively. There were a significantly lower C-reactive protein levels at initiation of biological-targeted treatments [22 [10-46] mg/l vs 58 [26-76] mg/l, (p=0.006)] and a trend toward lower immunosuppressants drugs used prior biologics (p=0.054) in responders (i.e. complete and/or partial responders) relative to non-responders to biological-targeted treatments. C-reactive protein levels and daily prednisone dosage significantly decreased after 12 months of biological-targeted treatments [30 vs 6 mg/l, p<0.05 and 15 vs 7.5 mg, p<0.05, at baseline and at 12 months, respectively]. The 3-year relapse free survival was of 90.9% (83.5-99) over biologic treatment period compared to 58.7% (43.3-79.7) (p=0.0025) with DMARDs. No difference was found relative to efficacy between TNF-α antagonists and tocilizumab. After a median follow-up of 24 [2-95] months, 21% of adverse effects occurred, with biological-targeted treatments discontinuation in 6.6% of cases. Conclusions —This nationwide study shows high efficacy of biological-targeted treatments in refractory TA patients with an acceptable safety profile.