Incidence of Arthritis/Arthralgia in Inflammatory Bowel Disease with Long-term Vedolizumab Treatment: Post Hoc Analyses of the GEMINI Trials

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Extraintestinal manifestations [EIMs] such as arthritis/arthralgia are common in inflammatory bowel disease. We performed post hoc analyses of data from the GEMINI studies to evaluate the effect of vedolizumab, a gut-selective anti-trafficking agent, on arthritis/arthralgia. METHODS: Sustained resolution of baseline arthritis/arthralgia, worsening of baseline arthritis/arthralgia, the occurrence of new arthritis/arthralgia, and the composite of new/worsening arthritis/arthralgia were evaluated. Cox modelling was used for time-to-event analysis. The influence of corticosteroid-tapering was also investigated. RESULTS: In Crohn’s disease [CD] patients, vedolizumab was significantly less likely than placebo to be associated with new/worsening arthritis/arthralgia (hazard ratio [HR], 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44–0.89). Similar incidences of sustained resolution of arthritis/arthralgia occurred with vedolizumab and placebo. In CD patients on corticosteroids at baseline, a decrease in corticosteroid dose increased the risk of new/worsening arthritis/arthralgia (odds ratio [OR], 7.49; 95% CI, 3.50–15.97) regardless of treatment; and in those achieving corticosteroid-free status, arthritis/arthralgia was less likely with vedolizumab than with placebo [HR, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.05–0.35]. In ulcerative colitis [UC] patients, vedolizumab and placebo showed a similar incidence of new/worsening of arthritis/arthralgia. In UC patients on corticosteroid at baseline, arthritis/arthralgia was more likely in those achieving corticosteroid-free status than in those continuing corticosteroids (HR 2.63 [95% CI 1.13–6.11]); and in those achieving corticosteroid-free status, the incidence of arthritis/arthralgia was similar with vedolizumab and placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Vedolizumab therapy was associated with a reduced likelihood of new/worsening arthritis/arthralgia in CD and no increased incidence of these events in UC. STUDIES INCLUDED [CLINCIALTRIALS.GOV, NUMBER]: GEMINI 1 [NCT00783718]; GEMINI 2 [NCT00783692]; GEMINI 3 [NCT01224171].