Abstract 4369289: Clinical efficacy of Interleukin Antagonist therapy in pericarditis: A Systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Pericarditis, an inflammation of the pericardium is estimated to affect about 27 in 100000 people every year. Interleukin antagonists are molecules that block the activity of Interleukin, a type of cytokine involved in immune signalling. This study aims to explore the clinical utility of non-conventional treatments like Interleukin antagonists for treatment of pericarditis. Methodology: A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus. PRISMA guidelines were followed. A Boolean expression was constructed to retrieve and select articles from major medical databases. Articles that included observations of the recurrence of pericarditis following IL Antagonist therapy were included in the meta-analysis conducted. The Odds ratio of improvement of recurrence of events of pericarditis following IL Antagonist therapy and the control group was assessed using the Mantel-Haenszel method(common effect model), and the Inverse variance method ( random effects model) was utilised to analyse the odds ratio. The I^2 test was used to assess the heterogeneity. The inverse variance method was used to assess the overall pooled proportions of events of pericarditis following IL antagonist therapy. Results: The study conducted included a total of 18 studies assessing the pooled proportion of recurrence of pericarditis following IL antagonist (ILA) therapy. The pooled rate of recurrence following ILA therapy was calculated to be 0.08/8% , indicating significantly low rates of recurrence of pericarditis (0.08(0.03;0.17) , I^2 = 53% , p<0.01). The odds ratio between standard treatment group and the ILA therapy for the recurrence of pericarditis was observed in 9 studies. The odds of recurrence of pericarditis were significantly lower in the ILA therapy group in comparison to the standard treatment group.(OR = 0.23 (0.12 ; 0.45) , I^2 = 59% , p = 0.01) Conclusion: Our study suggests that Interleukin antagonists show significantly lower rates of recurrence pericarditis in comparison to patients receiving standard treatments. This indicates that IL Antagonists are superior to standard management options for Pericarditis.