| J Neurol Sci. 2003 Jun 15;210(1-2):19-21. | |
Etanercept (Enbrel) therapy for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.
Chin RL,Sherman WH,Sander HW,Hays AP,Latov
Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10022, USA. ruc9002@med.cornell.edu
Patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and/or variants who were refractory or intolerant of standard therapies were treated with etanercept, 25 mg twice per week. Ten patients underwent treatment, and manual muscle strength, sensory thresholds and functional abilities were tested prior to and 4-6 months after initiating therapy. Three patients had significant improvement and three others had possible improvement. Based on these preliminary observations, treatment with etanercept may be considered in patients with CIDP, who cannot undergo standard therapies, although its efficacy in CIDP needs to be examined in a double-blinded, controlled clinical trial.
PMID: 12736082 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PRESCRIBED FOR: Etanercept is used as primary treatment to reduce the pain, swelling and tenderness of joints resulting from moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis in adults.Etanercept also is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderately to severely active, polyarticular-course, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in patients who have had an inadequate response to one or more disease-modifying medicines. Etanercept is approved for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis and the arthritis of psoriasis. It can prevent the progressive destruction of the joints in patients with psoriatic arthritis. Etanercept can improve physical function in patients with psoriatic arthritis. It also is reported to be of benefit in psoriasis, and uveitis. DOSING: Etanercept is injected under the skin. Adults usually inject 25mg twice weekly. Children 4 to 17 years old should receive 0.4mg/kg (maximum 25mg) twice weekly. Etanercept has not been studied in children younger than 4 years. DRUG INTERACTIONS: Drug interaction studies have not been conducted. Because etanercept may reduce the response of the immune system, etanercept should not be administered with live vaccines. PREGNANCY: Studies have not been conducted in pregnant women. Etanercept is not recommended in pregnant women. NURSING MOTHERS: It is unknown whether etanercept is excreted in human breast milk. Etanercept is not recommended in nursing women. SIDE EFFECTS: The most common side effects are mild to moderate itching, pain, swelling and redness at the site of injection. Headache, dizziness, nasal and throat irritation also occur. TNF alpha has an important role in the responses of the immune system to infections. Thus, blocking the action of TNF alpha with etanercept may worsen or increase the occurrence of infections, and patients with serious infections should not receive etanercept. Some reported associated conditions may or may not be related to etanercept. Since etanercept has been on the market, there have been reports of multiple sclerosis, myelitis, optic neuritis in patients using the drug. Etanercept is not recommended for persons with preexisting disease of the central nervous system (brain and/or spinal cord) or for those with multiple sclerosis, myelitis, or optic neuritis. Additionally, rare cases of seriously low blood counts (pancytopenia) have been reported in patients using etanercept. Since etanercept is a relatively new drug, there is limited information on long-term risks. |