[Therapy of rheumatic diseases with inosiplex]

27 patients (13 rheumatoid arthritis, RA; 4 systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE; 5 systemic sclerosis, PSS; 5 undifferentiated connective tissue disease, UCTD) were treated with inosiplex for more than 23 months (7.7 +/- 1.3). Clinical improvement was impressive by the end of the first month of therapy in 7 patients with moderate active RA (p less than 0.01), and 5 of these patients treated for more than 8 months continued to do well (p less than 0.05). In contrast, patients with very active RA did not show any clear-cut improvement. In the other diseases studied, 5 patients responded rapidly (reduction in arthritis, improvement of pulmonary involvement). A concomitant rise in the T4/T8- (helper-/suppressor-) cell ratio with increased numbers of T4+-cells was observed in patients with RA and PSS. Our data suggest that some patients with rheumatic diseases may benefit from long-term treatment with inosiplex.