Objective: To explore the effect of sequential treatment with glucocorticoid and tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors in patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA).
Materials and methods: In five patients with TA, the effects of the sequential treatment with prednisone for 5-7 months and then with adalimumab (ADA) + methotrexate (MTX) or infliximab + MTX, or with ADA only, for 12 months on both clinical and laboratory findings were evaluated.
Results: All treatments improved both symptoms and laboratory parameters without the development of side-effects.
Conclusions: It was hypothesized that MMP-9 and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin could be markers of the response to the treatments.
Keywords: Adalimumab; infliximab; matrix metalloproteinases-9; methotrexate; neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin; takayasu arteritis.