Efficacy and safety of low-dose interleukin-2 in combination with methotrexate in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an aggressive autoimmune arthritis, and current therapies remain unsatisfactory due to low remission rate and substantially adverse effects. Low-dose interleukin-2 (Ld-IL2) is potentially a therapeutic approach to further improve the disease. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ld-IL2 in patients with active RA. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive Ld-IL2, defined as a dose of 1 million IU, or placebo in a 12-week trial with a 12-week follow-up. Three cycles of Ld-IL2 or placebo were administered subcutaneously every other day for 2 weeks (a total of 7 doses), followed by a 2-week break. All patients received a stable dose of methotrexate (MTX). The primary outcomes were the proportion of patients achieving the ACR20, DAS28-ESR <2.6, and the change from baseline in CDAI or SDAI at week 24. Secondary endpoints included other clinical responses and safety. The primary outcomes were achieved in the per-protocol population. The improvements from baseline in CDAI and SDAI were significantly greater across time points for the Ld-IL2 + MTX group ( n = 17) than for the placebo+MTX group ( n = 23) ( P = 0.018 and P = 0.015, respectively). More patients achieved ACR20 response in the Ld-IL2 + MTX group than those in the placebo+MTX group at week 12 (70.6% vs 43.5%) and at week 24 (76.5% vs 56.5%) ( P = 0.014). In addition, low Treg and high IL-21 were associated with good responses to Ld-IL2. Ld-IL-2 treatment was well-tolerated in this study. These results suggested that Ld-IL2 was effective and safe in RA. ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT 02467504.