Effectiveness of an once weekly double dose of etanercept in patients with JIA: a clinical study

Femke H.M. Prince ^1*, Marinka Twilt ², Nelleke C. J. A. Jansen-Wijngaarden ¹ and Lisette W.A. van Suijlekom-Smit ¹

¹ Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, Netherlands
² Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital/ Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: f.prince{at}erasmusmc.nl.

Accepted 19 February 2007

Abstract

Etanercept is effective in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).[1-3] Currently it is administered subcutaneously (SC) in the dose of 0,4 mg/kg (maximum of 25 mg) twice weekly. Clinical trials in adults show that the administering of an once weekly double dose is effective enough to induce and retain remission.[4, 5] A farmakinetic model developed by Yim et al. indicates that the same dosing regime could be used in children. [6] Wallace mentions the once weekly double dose in patients with JIA, but this is not supported by clinical trials.[7] Therefore we evaluated the efficacy of etanercept administered once weekly in the dose of 0,8 mg/kg SC (maximum of 50 mg) to retain and induce remission in patients with JIA.

Keywords: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, double dose, etanercept, once weekly

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