Remission in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Achieved on Different Drug Regimens

Remission has become both the gold standard for clinical care and the end point for clinical trials for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Using gene expression microarrays, we found that when remission induced by methotrexate (MTX) or MTX plus a TNF inhibitor (etanercept, Et) (MTX+Et) was compared with healthy controls, there were notable differences in gene expression patterns, demonstrating that remission is not a restoration of immunologic normalcy. Differences were detected in PBMC as well as in granulocytes.

78