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WEDNESDAY, Sept. 19, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Quarterly canakinumab administration is associated with significantly reduced risk for gout attacks without any change in serum uric acid levels, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Daniel H. Solomon, M.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues evaluated the association between canakinumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1\u03b2; serum uric acid levels; and the incidence of gout attacks. Participants (10,059 with a prior myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level \u226519.1 nmol\/L) were included in a randomized trial of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, or 300 mg) versus placebo, administered subcutaneously every three months.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that for participants receiving placebo, incidence rates of gout attacks for serum uric acid concentrations of \u2264404.5 \u00b5mol\/L were 0.28 per 100 person-years, 1.36 per 100 person-years for concentrations 404.6 to 535.3 \u00b5mol\/L, and 5.94 per 100 person-years for concentrations \u2265535.4 \u00b5mol\/L. For all baseline concentrations of serum uric acid, canakinumab did not affect serum uric acid levels over time, but significantly reduced rates of gout attacks: hazard ratios, 0.40 for concentrations of \u2264404.5 \u00b5mol\/L; 0.48 for those between 404.6 and 535.3 \u00b5mol\/L; and 0.45 for concentrations \u2265535.4 \u00b5mol\/L.<\/p>\n
“These data have relevance for the development of agents for gout that target the interleukin-1\u03b2 pathway of innate immunity,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, which manufactures canakinumab and funded the study.<\/p>\n
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