The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Adalimumab Lowers Risk of Uveitic Flare

Adalimumab Lowers Risk of Uveitic Flare

August 30, 2016 • By Will Boggs, MD

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Adalimumab reduces the risk of uveitic flare after corticosteroid withdrawal in patients with inactive, noninfectious uveitis, according to results from VISUAL II.

You Might Also Like
  • Treating Uveitis with Adalimumab Improves Quality of Life
  • Tildrakizumab Promising for Plaque Psoriasis; FDA Approves Adalimumab to Treat Panuveitis
  • Adalimumab, Tacrolimus Effective for Treating Refractory Ulcerative Colitis

“Tumor-necrosis factor (TNF) inhibition, which has been demonstrated to have strong efficacy in rheumatologic disorders, can also have significant role in the management of noninfectious uveitis, even amidst the challenges of heterogeneity of uveitic entities,” Dr. Quan Dong Nguyen from University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha tells Reuters Health by email.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Corticosteroids are the mainstay of uveitis treatment, but ocular and systemic side effects restrict their long-term use. The VISUAL I clinical trial and other prospective studies have found anti-TNF drugs, including adalimumab, to be safe and effective for treating uveitis and reducing corticosteroid use.

In a randomized, controlled trial of 229 patients, Dr. Nguyen and colleagues from 62 study sites in 21 countries tested adalimumab for preventing reactivation of noninfectious uveitis controlled by corticosteroids.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The median follow-up was 155 days in the placebo group and 245 days in the adalimumab group. The treatment failure rate was 55% in the placebo group and 39% in the adalimumab group, a significant 43% reduction with adalimumab.

The median time to treatment failure was 8.3 months with placebo, compared with >18 months (median not reached) with adalimumab, according to the Aug. 16 online report in The Lancet.

Most of the measurable effect of adalimumab was on the best-corrected visual acuity component of the time to treatment failure primary efficacy endpoint, the researchers note.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Rates of adverse and serious adverse events were similar in the two groups.

“The safety of TNF inhibitors, such as that of infliximab and adalimumab, has been observed and relatively accepted during the past decade,” Dr. Nguyen says. “Studies of adalimumab in uveitis have not revealed or demonstrated any new or additional concerns, thus allowing clinician scientists (ophthalmologists in this setting) to evaluate fully the risks and benefits of adalimumab for patients with uveitis.”

“When there is a uveitic flare, unless it is contraindicated, many uveitis specialists will consider adding or increasing the dose of corticosteroids,” Dr. Nguyen says. “At such time, one can also initiate adalimumab, knowing that with the presence of adalimumab, steroids can be tapered with well-proven confidence that treatment failure with recurrence of disease and flare is very unlikely to occur.”

Alastair K. Denniston from University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, who coauthored an editorial related to this report, tells Reuters Health by email, “We recognize that uveitis is a heterogeneous disease which may cause variable inflammatory sequelae within the eye, and it is perfectly possible that immunosuppressants may show differential benefit in tackling particular aspects of the disease. Future studies of the scale and quality of the VISUAL studies are urgently needed in uveitis to establish the relative merits of the commonly used therapeutics for the range of uveitic presentations, and to help establish where each agent should fit into the treatment pathway.”

“The place of adalimumab in the treatment pathway is still under discussion,” Denniston says. “It is clearly effective and well tolerated. Most uveitis experts seem to use it after the failure of one or more ‘second line’ immunosuppressants, such as mycophenolate mofetil or cyclosporine, but practice is quite variable and will also depend on local availability of the drug.”

“It will be very interesting to see how this will be affected by the recent licensing by the FDA and the EMA of adalimumab for adult noninfectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis,” he adds.

AbbVie funded the trial, employed five of the 16 authors, and had various relationships with nine other authors, including Dr. Nguyen.

Pages: 1 2 | Multi-Page

Filed Under: Biologics & Biosimilars, Drug Updates Tagged With: adalimumab, eye, Inflammatory Eye Disease, Uveitis

You Might Also Like:
  • Treating Uveitis with Adalimumab Improves Quality of Life
  • Tildrakizumab Promising for Plaque Psoriasis; FDA Approves Adalimumab to Treat Panuveitis
  • Adalimumab, Tacrolimus Effective for Treating Refractory Ulcerative Colitis
  • Adalimumab Drives Regulatory T Cell Expansion by Binding to Membrane TNF

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.