Anakinra ineffective for reducing symptoms of chronic fatigue

(HealthDay)—The anti-inflammatory biologic drug anakinra (Kineret) does not reduce fatigue severity in women with chronic fatigue syndrome, according to a study published online March 7 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

To test anakinra's potential as a treatment, Megan E. Roerink, M.D., of the Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and colleagues randomly assigned 25 women with chronic fatigue syndrome to receive daily 100-mg injections of the drug. Another 25 women received a placebo.

After one month, the researchers saw no meaningful difference between the two groups in fatigue severity. Other symptoms—including pain, distress, and physical and social functioning—were not appreciably different, either.

"Peripheral interleukin-1 inhibition using anakinra for four weeks does not result in a clinically significant reduction in fatigue severity in women with chronic fatigue syndrome and severe fatigue," the authors write.