Observational studyPloS one2018
Effects of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and tocilizumab on the glycosylated hemoglobin levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis; an observational study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis investigating the role of interleukin-6 mediated inflammation in type 2 diabetes.EBioMedicine · 2020Pooled it
- Type 2 Diabetes: How Much of an Autoimmune Disease?Frontiers in endocrinology · 2019Pooled it
- The impact of comorbidities on the efficacy of IL-6 inhibitor olokizumab compared to adalimumab in a randomized controlled trial.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Trial
- Interleukin-6 receptor blockade or TNFα inhibition for reducing glycaemia in patients with RA and diabetes: post hoc analyses of three randomised, controlled trials.Arthritis research & therapy · 2020Trial
- Safety of Biologic and Targeted Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Longitudinal Analysis.Drug safety · 2026Article
- Tocilizumab in German patients with RA: real-world evidence from the noninterventional studies ARATA and ICHIBAN.EULAR rheumatology open · 2026Review
- Metabolic and Anthropometric Alterations in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Focus on Cardiometabolic Risk and Non-Invasive Evaluation Methods.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Unraveling the Mystery: COVID-19 and Diabetic Complications - A Journey from Pathophysiology to Treatment.Current diabetes reviews · 2026Review
- The central role of IL-6 in the differential effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists and metformin across multiple health conditions.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Cardiovascular Risk Assessment in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- IL6 genetic perturbation mimicking IL-6 inhibition is associated with lower cardiometabolic risk.Nature cardiovascular research · 2025Article
- The Cardiovascular Safety of Tumour Necrosis Factor Inhibitors in Arthritic Conditions: A Structured Review with Recommendations.Rheumatology and therapy · 2025Review
- Cardiovascular Risk Factor and Atherosclerosis in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).Current cardiology reports · 2025Review
- Inflammation and resolution in obesity.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2025 · on this mapReview
- Heterogeneous associations between interleukin-6 receptor variants and phenotypes across ancestries and implications for therapy.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- What have we learnt from the inhibition of IL-6 in RA and what are the clinical opportunities for patient outcomes?Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2024Review
- Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs associated with different diabetes risks in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.RMD open · 2023Article
- Mechanistic and therapeutic links between rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes mellitus.Clinical and experimental medicine · 2023Review
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Options and Type 2 Diabetes: Unravelling the Association.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2022Article
- Diabetes-Related Complications and Costs in Medicare Beneficiaries with Comorbid Rheumatoid Arthritis and Diabetes Treated with Abatacept Versus Other Targeted DMARDs.Rheumatology and therapy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are associated with inflammation. We tried to investigate the influence of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) and tocilizumab (TCZ) on the glucose metabolism of RA patients. RA patients in whom treatment with TNFi or TCZ was initiated from 2008 to 2015 were studied based on their medical records. We analyzed patients whose glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were measured both before and 3 months after the initiation of these biologic agents. The association between HbA1c reduction and the treatment was evaluated. From 971 cases treated with these biologic agents, 221 cases whose medical records of HbA1c were available, were included (TNFi, n = 154; TCZ, n = 67). Both the TNFi and TCZ groups had significantly lower HbA1c values at 1 month and 3 months after the initiation of treatment (TNFi, p<0.001; TCZ, p<0.001). Although the pretreatment HbA1c values did not differ (TNFi, 6.2%; TCZ, 6.2%; p = 0.532), the 3-month treatment HbA1c values were lower (TNFi, 6.1%; TCZ, 5.8%; p = 0.010) and the changes in HbA1c (ΔHbA1c) were greater (TNFi, 0.1%; TCZ, 0.4%; p<0.001) in the TCZ group. The reduction of HbA1c-defined by the achievement of a ΔHbA1c of ≥0.5%-was associated with baseline diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, baseline diabetes treatment, hospitalization, medical change during the observation period, and TCZ. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, TCZ was associated with the reduction of HbA1c in comparison to TNFi (adjusted OR = 5.59, 95% CI = 2.56-12.2; p<0.001). The HbA1c levels in RA patients were significantly lower after the initiation of TNFi or TCZ. Our study suggests that TCZ decreases the HbA1c levels in RA patients to a greater extent than TNFi.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.