Autoinflammatory & rare systemic diseases
Interleukin‐18 Levels Are Associated With Disease Course in Patients With Still Disease Treated With Interleukin‐1 Inhibitors
Authors' conclusion
In biologic-naive patients with SD, IL-18 levels, especially reassessed three months after IL-1i initiation, robustly predict long-term disease activity, MAS risk, and chronic-persistent trajectory.
Study context
- Population
- Biologic-naive patients with Still disease receiving first-line IL-1 inhibitors
- Participants
- 66 patients
- Outcome
- Prognostic utility of circulating IL-18 levels in predicting disease activity, MAS and disease course
Methodological detailsmixed-effects models, ROC curve analysis, multivariate logistic regression
- Mixed-effects models
- ROC curve analysis
- Multivariate logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Prediction by baseline IL-18 >45,000 pg/mL
Active disease at 12 months, AUC (P = 0.0002)
0.82
Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) development within 24 months, AUC (P = 0.01)
0.78
Chronic-persistent course, AUC (P = 0.007)
0.73
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Baseline IL-18 levels · median baseline
- Median baseline IL-18, pg/mL (IQR 16,194-235,746)
- 61,425
- Decline after IL-1 blockade (P < 0.0001)
- Higher IL-18 persisted with active disease (P < 0.0001)
IL-18 >15,000 pg/mL at 3 months predicting chronic-persistent course
- AUC (P < 0.0001)
- 0.92
- OR, independent of clinical disease activity (P = 0.01)
- 25.6
- Multivariate model AUC (explaining 67% of variance)
- 0.95
Original publication
Interleukin‐18 Levels Are Associated With Disease Course in Patients With Still Disease Treated With Interleukin‐1 Inhibitors. Arthritis Rheumatol. Published 12 March 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →