Signs, symptoms, and physical function all improved after treatment with adalimumab, according to a randomized, controlled study of 165 patients with active nonpsoriatic peripheral spondyloarthritis (SpA) who had an inadequate response or intolerance to NSAIDs. Researchers found:

• After 12 weeks of treatment, a greater proportion of patients receiving adalimumab achieved a PSpARC40 response than patients receiving placebo (39% vs 20%). A PSpARC40 response is defined as a ≥40% improvement from baseline in disease activity and pain and a ≥40% improvement in at least one of the following: swollen and tender joint counts, total enthesitis count, or dactylitis counts.

• Improvement in other outcomes was greater in the adalimumab group than in the placebo group.

• Adverse event rates were similar in both treatment groups.

Citation: Mease P, Sieper J, Van den Bosch F, Rahman P, Karunaratne PM, Pangan AL. Randomized controlled trial of adalimumab in patients with nonpsoriatic peripheral spondyloarthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015 Apr;67(4):914-923. doi: 10.1002/art.39008.