Higher ferritin levels, shorter disease duration, more pronounced systemic manifestations, and less severe polyarthritis are the predictors associated with the positive response of Anakinra, evident from a recently published retrospective review in the Journal of Rheumatology.

All the sJIA patients who were recently operated with Anakinra at University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston from 2004 to 2017 were examined retrospectively for predictors; clinical, laboratory, demographic variables along with concurrent or previous therapies. Assessment of the efficacy of the medication was assessed one year following the initiation of the treatment. Complete clinical response (CCR) was determined as the absence of fever, ≥ 75% reduction of corticosteroid dose, count of active joints ≤ 1, negative C-reactive protein, and physician’s global assessment ≤ 1. The patients who discontinued the treatment before 12 months for any reasons except disease remission were considered as nonresponders.

Twenty-four patients out of the 62 matched the criteria for CCR by one year. Lower active joint count, higher activity of systemic manifestations, shorter disease duration, and higher ferritin level were the factors that achieved CCR at one year. These findings help to describe the clinical portrait of sJIA patients who are more liable for profit from IL-1 blockade.