Early beneficial effects of low dose oral methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis.

The effect of low dose methotrexate pulse therapy was studied in 21 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. Three doses of oral methotrexate 2.5 mg at 12 hourly intervals weekly was administered to all the patients. Patients were followed up for clinical, radiological and serological evaluation. Significant reduction in the number of painful and swollen joints, decrease in the duration of morning stiffness, fall in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and improvement in global assessment were seen in 15 patients (71.4%) by the end of 16 weeks. Five patients (23.8%) complained of minor gastric discomfort. None of the patients discontinued the treatment because of any side effect.