Effectiveness and tolerability of oral versus subcutaneous methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Oral Versus Subcutaneous Methotrexate in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disorders: an Update of the Current Literature

PURPOSE

This review aims to critically evaluate the potential benefit of either oral or subcutaneous administration of methotrexate (MTX) in various immune-mediated inflammatory disorders (IMIDs) through analysis of efficacy, toxicity, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of both administration routes.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent studies comparing the efficacy of oral versus subcutaneous MTX administration in IMIDs have revealed contradicting results. Some reported higher efficacy with subcutaneous administration, while others found no significant difference. Regarding toxicity, some studies have challenged the notion that subcutaneous administration is better tolerated than oral administration, while others have supported this. Pharmacokinetic studies suggest higher plasma bioavailability and increased accumulation of MTX-polyglutamates (MTX-PGs) in red blood cells (RBCs) with subcutaneous administration during the initial treatment phase. However, after several months, similar intracellular drug levels are observed with both administration routes. There is no conclusive evidence supporting the superiority of either oral or subcutaneous MTX administration in terms of efficacy and adverse events in IMIDs. Subcutaneous administration leads to higher plasma bioavailability and initial accumulation of MTX-PGs in RBCs, but the difference seems to disappear over time. Given the variable findings, the choice of administration route may be based on shared decision-making, offering patients the option of either oral or subcutaneous administration of MTX based on individual preferences and tolerability. Further research is needed to better understand the impact of MTX-PGs in various blood cells and TDM on treatment response and adherence to MTX therapy.

Oral methotrexate at doses 15-25 mg/week is non-inferior to parenteral regarding efficacy and safety in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

The most optimal route of methotrexate (MTX) administration for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not yet been established. Our aim was to compare the efficacy, safety, and bioavailability profiles of oral MTX with parenteral MTX in adult patients with RA.

METHODS

PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalKey were searched for published randomized trials through December 30, 2021. Random-effects models were used to assess pooled odds ratios (ORs) and mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). This review was registered in PROSPERO (number CRD42022297810).

RESULTS

Of 705 identified trials, 6 met the criteria and were included in our meta-analysis (644 subjects). Compared to parenteral MTX, oral MTX yielded no significant differences in response rates of 20% (OR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.40-1.75), 50% (OR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.44-1.28), and 70% (OR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.51-1.09) improvement according to American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR20/50/70 response), and no increased relative risk of any adverse event (OR: 1.20; 95% CI: 0.49-2.93). Furthermore, parenteral MTX showed a significant advantage in the value of AUC_0-t (MD: - 536.36; 95% CI: - 1054.22 to - 18.50), but not in C_max (MD: - 12.86; 95% CI: - 84.30 to 58.58) and T_max (MD: - 0.31; 95% CI: - 0.70 to 0.08) compared with oral MTX.

CONCLUSION

Oral MTX at doses of 15-25 mg/week in active RA is not inferior to parenteral regarding efficacy and safety. This supports the initial therapy with oral MTX.

PolyMyalgia Rheumatica treatment with Methotrexate in Optimal Dose in an Early disease phase (PMR MODE): study protocol for a multicenter double-blind placebo controlled trial

Background

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is an inflammatory rheumatic disease affecting people older than 50, resulting in pain and stiffness of the neck, shoulder, and pelvic girdle. To date, glucocorticoids (GC) remain the cornerstone of treatment, but these have several drawbacks. Firstly, a large proportion of patients do not achieve GC-free remission within either the first (over 70%) or second year of treatment (over 50%). Secondly, GC-related adverse events (AE) occur in up to 65% of patients and can be severe.

The current EULAR/ACR guidelines for PMR recommend early introduction of methotrexate (MTX) as a GC sparing agent in patients at risk for worse prognosis. However, earlier trials of low to medium quality only studied MTX dosages of 7.5–10 mg/week with no to modest effect. These doses may be suboptimal as MTX is recommended in higher doses (25 mg/week) for other inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The exact role, timing, and dose of MTX in PMR remain unclear, and therefore, our objective is to study the efficacy of MTX 25 mg/week in recently diagnosed PMR patients.

Methods

We set up a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled superiority trial (PMR MODE) to assess the efficacy of MTX 25 mg/week versus placebo in a 1:1 ratio in 100 recently diagnosed PMR patients according to the 2012 EULAR/ACR criteria. All patients will receive prednisolone 15 mg/day, tapered to 0 mg over the course of 24 weeks. In case of primary non-response or disease relapse, prednisolone dose will be temporarily increased. Assessments will take place at baseline, 4, 12, 24, 32, and 52 weeks. The primary outcome is the difference in proportion of patients in GC-free remission at week 52.

Discussion

No relapsing PMR patients were chosen, since the possible benefits of MTX may not outweigh the risks at low doses and effect modification may occur. Accelerated tapering was chosen in order to more easily identify a GC-sparing effect if one exists. A composite endpoint of GC-free remission was chosen as a clinically relevant endpoint for both patients and rheumatologist and may reduce second order (treatment) effects.

Trial registration

Dutch Trial Registration, NL8366. Registered on 10 February 2020

Methotrexate in early rheumatoid arthritis: Is the anchor drug still holding?

Treat-to-target (T2T) is currently the most fashionable strategy for treatment-naïve, early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. A T2T approach can lead to a complete and drug-free disease remission, whereas failure to obtain remission leads to damage early in the disease course. Hence, one should try to achieve high remission rates as early as possible, implementing the best therapeutic strategies available. Methotrexate (MTX) combined with glucocorticoid bridging is the mainstay of T2T. However, MTX is often used suboptimally in RA patients for many reasons, including poor tolerability, low compliance, and safety issues. Recent evidence has suggested that novel targeted synthetic DMARDs (tsDMARDs) such as the Janus-kinase (JAK) inhibitors in combination with glucocorticoids yielded better outcomes in early RA than conventional treatment. Such an approach may have advantages in terms of patients' outcomes, though some concerns about serious adverse events need to be addressed.