Calprotectin strongly and independently predicts relapse in rheumatoid arthritis and polyarticular psoriatic arthritis patients treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors: a 1-year prospective cohort study

• Published in: Arthritis research & therapy 2018-12, Vol.20 (1), p.275-275, Article 275
• Main Authors: Inciarte-Mundo, José, Ramirez, Julio, Hernández, Maria Victoria, Ruiz-Esquide, Virginia, Cuervo, Andrea, Cabrera-Villalba, Sonia Raquel, Pascal, Mariona, Yagüe, Jordi, Cañete, Juan D, Sanmarti, Raimon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Antirheumatic Agents - therapeutic use; Arthritis; Arthritis, Psoriatic - blood; Arthritis, Psoriatic - diagnosis; Arthritis, Psoriatic - drug therapy; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - blood; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - diagnosis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Calprotectin; Care and treatment; Cohort analysis; Development and progression; Female; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Humans; Immunotherapy; Inflammatory bowel disease; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Leukocyte L1 Antigen Complex - blood; Male; Medical prognosis; Middle Aged; Necrosis; Patient outcomes; Predictors; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Proteins; Psoriatic arthritis; Recurrence; Recurrence (Disease); Relapse; Remission Induction; Rheumatoid arthritis; Risk factors; TNF inhibitors; TNFi serum trough levels; Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - antagonists & inhibitors; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - metabolism; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasound
• ISSN: 1478-6362; 1478-6354; 1478-6362
• DOI: 10.1186/s13075-018-1764-z

Calprotectin is a biomarker of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and predicts relapse in juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Higher drug trough serum levels are associated with a good response in patients treated with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). Power Doppler ultrasound synovitis is predictive of relapse and structural damage progression in patients in clinical remission. The purpose of this study was to analyze the accuracy of serum calprotectin levels, drug trough serum levels (TSL), and power Doppler (PD) activity as predictors of relapse in RA and PsA patients in remission or with low disease activity receiving TNFi. This was a longitudinal, prospective, 1-year single-center study of 103 patients (47 RA, 56 PsA) receiving TNFi in remission or with low disease activity (28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) ≤ 3.2). The predictive value of serum calprotectin, TNFi TSL, and PD were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. To illustrate the predictive performance of calprotectin, TNFi TSL, and PD score, Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed from baseline to relapse. Associations between baseline factors and relapse were determined using Cox regression models. Multivariate models were constructed to analyze the effect of covariates and to fully adjust the association between calprotectin, TNFi TSL, and PD score with relapse. A generalized estimating equation model with an identity link for longitudinal continuous outcomes was used to assess the effect of covariates on TNFi TSL. Ninety-five patients completed 1 year of follow-up, of whom 12 experienced a relapse. At baseline, relapsers had higher calprotectin levels, lower TNFi TSL, and higher PD activity than nonrelapsers. ROC analysis showed calprotectin fully predicted relapse (area under the curve (AUC) = 1.00). TNFi TSL and PD had an AUC of 0.790 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.691-0.889) and 0.877 (95% CI 0.772-0.981), respectively. Survival analyses and log rank tests showed significant differences between groups according to calprotectin serum levels (p