Medicated wine of Tripterygium wilfordii in treating rheumatoid arthritis in 392 patients

AIM: To evaluate the effect and safety of Medicated wine of Tripterygium Wilfordii in treating rheumatoid arthritis(RA). METHODS: Five humdred and eighty-eight patients were divided into the treatment group(392) (M 101,F 291,age(42±s8)a)who were treated exclusively with 10 mL of the Medicated wine of Tripterypiun wilfordii,po, bid; and the control group (196,M47,F149)who were treated with indomethalin 25 mg, po, tid and ibuprofen 2 pills, po, tid. The effect was evaluated after 0.5 a treatment. RESULTS:After 0.5 a treatment, the treatment group got better effectiveness than the control group in such symptons as joint pain, swelling, pressing pain, weak holding strength, and morning stiffness(P 0.01). Clinical cured, effective and none effective ratio of the two groups were as follows:3,151,42 and 21,341,30(P 0.01).The adverse reaction rate of the treatment group was 30.5%. CONCLUSION:The Medicated wine of Tripterygium wilfordii has positive functions in controlling and reducing symptoms when used in treating RA.