The largest of these trials (n= 277) enrolled patients who were between 18 and 70 years of age and had active ankylosing spondylitis defined as visual analog scale (VAS) scores of  30 for average of duration and intensity of morning stiffness plus VAS scores of  30 for at least 2 of the following 3 parameters: patient global assessment; average of VAS values for nocturnal back pain and total back pain; average of 10 questions on the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI).