Table 2.

Results of overall and subgroup meta-analysis for the efficacy and safety of biologic agents in OA.

Analysis	No. of trials	ES (95% CI)	p value	I2 (p value)
Pain
Overall	24	0.28 (0.17 to 0.38)	<0.001	71.2% (<0.001)
Subgroup analysis
Mechanism of action
NGF inhibitors	15	0.36 (0.26 to 0.47)	<0.001	68.5% (<0.001)
IL-1 inhibitors	4	−0.12 (−0.45 to 0.21)	0.481	75.0% (0.007)
TNF-α inhibitors	5	0.24 (−0.00 to 0.49)	0.050	3.9% (0.384)
Function
Overall	18	0.30 (0.18 to 0.43)	<0.001	79.3% (<0.001)
Subgroup analysis
Mechanism of action
NGF inhibitors	14	0.41 (0.30 to 0.51)	<0.001	68.7% (<0.001)
IL-1 inhibitors	3	−0.27 (−0.84 to 0.30)	0.354	87.0% (<0.001)
TNF-α inhibitors	1	−0.04 (−0.55 to 0.46)	0.865	–
Any AEs
Overall	27	1.09 (1.05 to 1.14)	<0.001	36.8% (0.030)
Subgroup analysis
Mechanism of action
NGF inhibitors	17	1.12 (1.07 to 1.17)	<0.001	31.1% (0.108)
IL-1 inhibitors	6	0.97 (0.91 to 1.03)	0.328	4.8% (0.386)
TNF-α inhibitors	4	1.18 (0.96 to 1.47)	0.123	0.0% (0.561)
Serious AEs
Overall	24	1.16 (0.89 to 1.50)	0.265	0.0% (0.976)
Subgroup analysis
Mechanism of action
NGF inhibitors	17	1.20 (0.89 to 1.61)	0.228	0.0% (0.815)
IL-1 inhibitors	5	0.94 (0.51 to 1.73)	0.838	0.0% (0.999)
TNF-α inhibitors	2	1.55 (0.38 to 6.23)	0.541	0.0% (0.717)
Discontinuations due to AEs
Overall	23	1.39 (1.05 to 1.83)	0.021	0.0% (0.636)
Subgroup analysis
Mechanism of action
NGF inhibitors	16	1.48 (1.07 to 2.06)	0.018	0.0% (0.637)
IL-1 inhibitors	4	0.94 (0.52 to 1.68)	0.828	0.0% (0.530)
TNF-α inhibitors	3	2.15 (0.62 to 7.51)	0.229	21.8% (0.279)

AEs, adverse events; CI, confidence interval; ES, effect size; I², inconsistency index value; IL-1, interleukin-1; NGF, nerve growth factor; No., number; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-α.