ArticleClinical rheumatology2021
Comparison of the effects of baricitinib and tocilizumab on disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a propensity score matching analysis.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Observational
- Hematological Indices as Biomarkers in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis but Normal ESR/CRP Receiving Biological/Targeted Synthetic DMARDs.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2026Article
- Effect of Interleukin-6 Inhibitors on Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain: Overview of Evidence and Mechanistic Pathways.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of baricitinib versus sarilumab on disease activity in patients with RA: a propensity score matching study.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2025Article
- Systematic Literature Review of Real-World Evidence on Baricitinib for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.Rheumatology and therapy · 2023Review
- Comparative Effectiveness, Time to Discontinuation, and Patient-Reported Outcomes with Baricitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis: 2-Year Data from the Multinational, Prospective Observational RA-BE-REAL Study in European Patients.Rheumatology and therapy · 2023Article
- A JAK Inhibitor for Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Baricitinib Experience.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- High Sensitivity C Reactive Protein in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Antibodies against IL-6 or Jak Inhibitors: A Clinical and Ultrasonographic Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Plasma calprotectin as a biomarker of ultrasound synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving IL-6 antagonists or JAK inhibitors.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to compare the effects of baricitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor, and tocilizumab, a monoclonal anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody, on disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to investigate the influence of inflammation on improvement in patient global assessment (PGA) of disease activity.
methodsThis study was performed based on data from a multicenter registry, and included 284 and 113 patients treated with tocilizumab and baricitinib, respectively, who were observed for longer than 24 weeks. Propensity score matching was performed to address potential treatment-selection bias. To assess the influence of inflammation on PGA, patients were divided into two groups based on whether or not they achieved improvement in C-reactive protein (CRP, an objective marker of inflammation) at 24 weeks.
resultsA total of 48 matched pairs of patients were identified. Compared to treatment with tocilizumab, baricitinib showed a similar improvement in tender and swollen joint count and serum CRP levels, and a significantly greater improvement in PGA at 24 weeks. As a result, the baricitinib group had a significantly higher proportion of patients who achieved Boolean remission at 24 weeks. In subgroups of patients who did not achieve 50% or 70% CRP improvement, significant decreases from baseline to 24 weeks were observed in PGA in patients treated with baricitinib, but not in those treated with tocilizumab.
conclusionCompared to tocilizumab, baricitinib significantly improved PGA despite similar effects on inflammation in patients with RA. Moreover, the influence of inflammation on PGA improvement differed between baricitinib and tocilizumab. Key-points • Baricitinib and tocilizumab had similar effects on inflammation in RA patients. • Baricitinib improved patient global assessment (PGA) more than tocilizumab. • Baricitinib had a higher Boolean remission rate than tocilizumab at 24 weeks. • Influence of inflammation on PGA improvement differed between the two drugs.
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