Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)

Editor

Personal info

View

About

Terms

Javascript disabled

Please enable Javascript support in your browser to use this application.

Instructions on how to enable JavaScript on different browsers can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=23852.

[edit this page]

Haagsma, C.J. et al.

Combination of sulphasalazine and methotrexate versus the single components in early rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, controlled, double-blind, 52 week clinical trial.

To compare the efficacy of sulphasalazine, methotrexate, and the combination of both in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), not treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs previously, we conducted a double-blind, double-dummy, controlled, clinical trial. One hundred and five patients with active, early RA, rheumatoid factor and/or HLA DR1/4 positive were randomized between sulphasalazine (SSZ) 2000 (maximum 3000) mg daily, or methotrexate (MTX) 7.5 (maximum 15) mg weekly, or the combination (COMBI) of both, and were followed up by a single observer for 52 weeks. The mean change over time per patient, including all visits, in Disease Activity Score (DAS) was: SSZ: -1.6 (95% CI -2.0 to -1.2); MTX: -1.7 (-2.0 to -1.4); COMBI: -1.9 (-2.2 to -1.6); the difference week 0-week 52 (SSZ, MTX, COMBI respectively); DAS: -1.8, -2.0, -2.3, Ritchie articular index: -9.2, -9.5, -10.6, swollen joints: -9.2, -12.4, -14.3, erythrocyte sedimentation rate: -17, -21, -28. Nausea occurred significantly more in the COMBI group. The numbers of drop-outs due to toxicity were SSZ 9, MTX 2, COMBI 5. In conclusion, there were no significant differences in efficacy between combination and single therapy, only a modest trend favouring COMBI. The results of MTX and SSZ were very comparable. Nausea occurred more often in the COMBI group: the number of withdrawals due to adverse events did not differ significantly.[1]

References

Combination of sulphasalazine and methotrexate versus the single components in early rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, controlled, double-blind, 52 week clinical trial. Haagsma, C.J., van Riel, P.L., de Jong, A.J., van de Putte, L.B. Br. J. Rheumatol. (1997) [Pubmed]

Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenes Open Access Licence Privacy Policy Terms of Use apsburg

The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.