Description
Canakinumab is a human anti-interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) monoclonal antibody neutralizing IL-1 beta. Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) is a rare, multigenic, autoinflammatory disease of unknown etiology characterized by chronic arthritis; intermittent high-spiking fever, rash, and elevated levels of acute-phase reactants. Blood samples of SJIA patients were obtained from two phase 3 clinical trials conducted by the members of the Pediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organization (PRINTO) and the Pediatric Rheumatology Collaborative Study Group (PRCSG) (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00886769 and NCT00889863). For patients, baseline and day 3 samples were analyzed for either placebo or canakinumab (Ilaris) treatment.