Olokizumab's Effectiveness and Safety in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Background: In the development of rheumatoid arthritis, the cytokine interleukin-6 plays a role. An interleukin-6 cytokine-specific monoclonal antibody called olokizumab directly targets this cytokine. OKZ effectiveness and safety are being evaluated through this meta-analysis. Method: I looked up every published randomized controlled study on Clinicaltrials.gov, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and PubMed. I conducted the study using both the Mantel-Haenszel and inverse variance approaches. I evaluated bias in the included studies using the risk of bias tool 2. Results: In this meta-analysis, five trials totalling 2227 participants, were examined. In contrast to the placebo group, the olokizumab group had a significantly higher incidence of American College of Rheumatology 20; RR = 1.83, 95% CI [1.69, 1.99], P < 0.00001. Regarding Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index improvement, olokizumab significantly outperformed the placebo group; MD = -0.28, 95% CI [-0.32, -0.24], P < 0.00001. The incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events was significantly higher in the olokizumab group than in the placebo group; RR = 1.10, 95% CI [1.04, 1.17], P = 0.0006. Furthermore, the incidence of treatment-emergent serious adverse events did not differ significantly between the olokizumab group and the placebo group; RR = 0.85, 95% CI [0.60, 1.20], P = 0.35. Conclusion: In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, olokizumab combined methotrexate is well tolerated and more effective than placebo plus methotrexate.