antirheumatics/atrophy

OBJECTIVE Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) should start treatment early with the aim of suppressing the inflammatory process completely. It is not known if this strategy should, or can, be continued in later disease. METHODS In a multicentre, randomized, observer-blinded, controlled trial,

The influence of antirheumatic drugs, acetylsalicylic acid, diacetoxibenzoic acid, imurane and D-penicillamine, on the status of immunocompetent cells in experimental infectious-allergic carditis was studied morphologically in 70 rabbits. The immunosuppressive effect of all 4 drugs was established

OBJECTIVE To define the effects of withdrawing disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment from patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving stable, effective long-term DMARD treatment. METHODS A systematic literature search was conducted. Studies were included that were

An 80-year-old woman presented with rapid, progressive and multiple cavitary lesions in both lungs. Rheumatoid arthritis had been diagnosed and been treated with prednisolone (5 mg/day) and bucillamine since 1996. Due to worsening of arthralgia, methotrexate (6 mg/week) and leflunomide (10 mg/day)

Major achievements have been reached in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis during past decades due to the recognition of methotrexate as an anchor drug for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, due to the notion of a treatment window of opportunity in patients with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis

Enhanced understanding of the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathophysiology and the role of cytokines has enabled the development of innovative biological agents in the last 10 years that target specific parts of the immune response. Failure to achieve adequate response with traditional disease

Methotrexate is a disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug that is widely used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Nimesulide is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which is frequently used as adjuvant therapy for symptomatic alleviation of rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, we have

In-vitro studies have confirmed that various corticosteroids and also many nonsteroidal antirheumatic drugs exert inhibitory effects on anabolic processes in connective tissue cells. Depending on dose and at concentrations that in many cases correspond to therapeutic plasma levels, these drugs may

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the course of radiographic deterioration of the wrist joint with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to determine the influence of disease activity on its deterioration. A retrospective study was performed on 122 wrists in 66 patients, who started treatment

We determined the characteristic features of synovial tissues of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated by TNF inhibitors in order to delineate their mechanism of action. Synovial tissues were obtained during the joint surgical operations from 12 RA patients who had been treated with TNF

One hundred and eighteen elbows in 59 patients who started treatment using disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in the first year of the disease were followed-up for more than 10 years without biologic agents. Using annual radiographs of the elbow joint, Larsen grade (LG) was determined,

OBJECTIVE Evaluation of a complex and variable disease such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) poses a challenge particularly over the medium to long term. A practical framework to evaluate clinically relevant outcomes over the long term is the "5D" approach of Fries, described in 1980. We describe the 20

The currently available, most frequently used disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) include auranofin, azathioprine, D-penicillamine, gold sodium thiomalate, hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate (amethopterin) and sulphasalazine. Controlled trials of these agents are reviewed to compare their

Animal experiments have shown that weekly intraarticular injections of various antiphlogistic/antirheumatic drugs into the knee joint induce progressive degenerative alterations in joint cartilage. The observed degenerations and destructions are most similar to the pathophysiology of osteoarthrosis

A battery of drugs with antirheumatic properties was tested for effects on the progress of osteoarthritis induced by a lateral meniscectomy procedure in knee joint cartilage of rabbits. Oral administration of the potent glucocorticoids, paramethasone acetate or triamcinolone, resulted in dramatic