Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin treatment in inclusion body myositis: a randomized pilot study.

The authors performed an open, randomized trial in patients with inclusion body myositis comparing 1) 12-month treatment with oral methotrexate 7.5 mg/week alone (MTX group) with 2) 12-month MTX treatment preceded by 7 days of IV anti-T-lymphocyte immunoglobulin treatment (ATG group). Eleven patients were randomized; 10 patients completed 12 months follow-up. Myometry showed that patients in the ATG group (n = 6) increased in mean muscle strength by 1.4% compared with the MTX group (n = 5), whose muscle strength decreased by 11.1% (p = 0.021).