SAT0148 TAPERING OF CONVENTIONAL SYNTHETIC DISEASE MODIFYING ANTI-RHEUMATIC DRUGS IN SUSTAINED RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS REMISSION: RESULTS FROM A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Background: Gender medicine aims at describing how diseases differ between men and women in terms of epidemiology, clinical feature, therapeutic approach, treatment response and prognosis, psychological and social impact. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) affects women 2-3 times more than men. Female gender seems to be independently associated to a more refractory disease and a worst response to conventional synthetic Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (csDMARDs) and biological DMARDs. Male patients achieve remission more often than females probably due to the higher number of tender joints reported by the latter. Objectives: In the light of the effect of Janus kinases inhibitors (JAKi) on pain, the objective of the study was to investigate whether gender might affect the achievement of remission or low disease activity in RA patients treated with baricitinib and tofacitinib. Methods: We performed a multicentric, prospective study on consecutive patients starting one of the two available JAKi: baricitinib and tofacitinib. Demographic and clinical data were recorded in a dedicate database and included: gender, age, disease duration, serological status (Rheumatoid Factor – RF; anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies, ACPA) number of previous csDMARDs and bDMARDs, number of tender joints (TJ) and swollen joints (SJ), C reactive protein (CRP); patient global assessment (PGA) and pain were recorded on a 0-100 mm visual-analogue scale (VAS). Disease activity score (DAS) 28 was calculated at baseline and at two follow-up visits (after 3-4 months and after 6-8 months). Data were expressed as mean±standard deviation or median (interquartile range) according to variables’ distribution. Continuous variables were compared by Mann Whitney test while dichotomous ones by Chi-squared test; p value Results: We enrolled 182 RA patients (149 F:33 M) with similar age (F 58±12 vs M 60±10) and disease duration (F 143±101 vs M 147±105 months). Females and males were previously treated with the same number of csDMARDs [2(2)] but female have previously received numerically more bDMARDs [2(3) vs 1(2)]. At the 3 timepoints females and males showed similar number of TJ, SJ, similar values of CRP, PGA and pain. We did not observe any difference in percentage of males and females achieving remission or low disease activity according to gender (figure 1A) nor in terms of reduction of TJ, SJ and PGA; only pain decreased significantly more in male than in female patients at both timepoints (figure 1B). Conclusion: In RA patients treated with JAK inhibitors, even if the effect of JAKi on pain seems to be more relevant in male than in female, gender seems not to influence the overall clinical response, allowing men and women the same probability of reaching the therapeutic target References: Disclosure of Interests: Francesca Romana Spinelli Grant/research support from: Pfizer, Speakers bureau: Lilly, BMS, Celgene, Maria Sole Chimenti: None declared, Marta Vadacca: None declared, Cristina Iannuccelli: None declared, Paola Conigliaro: None declared, Silvia Laura Bosello: None declared, Fulvia Ceccarelli: None declared, Cristina Garufi: None declared, Giulia Raffone: None declared, Paola Di Noi: None declared, Dario Bruno: None declared, Antonella Afeltra: None declared, Roberto Perricone: None declared, fabrizio conti Speakers bureau: BMS, Lilly, Abbvie, Pfizer, Sanofi, Elisa Gremese Speakers bureau: Abbvie, BMS, Celgene, Jannsen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Sandoz, UCB