Three Cases of Previous Smokers with Rheumatoid Arthritis Who Did Not Respond to Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors Were Treated Successfully with an Anti-Interleukin-6 Receptor Antibody

Table 1

Characteristics of patients.

	Case  1	Case  2	Case  3
Sex	Female	Male	Female
Age (years)	63	64	48
Disease duration (years)	12	6	8
Smoking index	200; (10 cigarettes/day × 20 years)	1600; (40 cigarettes/day × 40 years)	560; (20 cigarettes/day × 28 years)
2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria	Satisfied	Satisfied	Satisfied
Laboratory results	RF 73.8 U/mL; ACPA 4.4 U/mL; CRP 2.9 mg/dL; WBC 11500/μL; MMP-3 698.7 ng/mL; Platelet 37.1 × 10^4/μL	RF 60.0 U/mL; ACPA 150.0 U/mL; CRP 1.5 mg/dL; WBC 8600/μL; MMP-3 148.1 ng/mL; Platelet 35.0 × 10^4/μL	RF 26.0 U/mL; ACPA 128.6 U/mL; CRP 0.07 mg/dL; WBC 12400/μL; MMP-3 179.5 ng/mL; Platelet 42.1 × 10^4/μL
Steinbrocker’s roentgenographic classification	Stage IV	Stage III	Stage III
Functional status according to Steinbrocker's revised criteria	Class II	Class II	Class II
Previous treatment: type and dosage (duration in months)	Etanercept 50 mg/week (26); Prednisolone 3 mg/day (62); Bucillamine 200 mg/day (52)	Etanercept 25–50 mg/week (13); Adalimumab 40 mg/2 weeks (4); Methotrexate 8 mg/week (72); Prednisolone 5 mg/day (36); Bucillamine 200 mg/day (48); Gold sodium thiomalate 10 mg/week (24); Mizoribine 150 mg/day (18)	Adalimumab 40 mg/2 weeks (4); Methotrexate 6 mg/week (72); Prednisolone 9 mg/day (36); Salazosulfapyridine 1000 mg/day (6); Mizoribine 200 mg/day (18)
Time (months) to remission of arthritis; (DAS28-CRP <2.3)	11	16	1

RF: rheumatoid factor; ACPA: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; CRP: C-reactive protein; WBC: white blood cell count; MMP-3: matrix metalloproteinase-3.