Clinical study of sinomenine combined with methotrexate on the repair of bone destruction in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective To explore clinical effect of sinomenine combined with methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis(RA), and its effect on bone repair. Methods Totally 96 cases of RA patients were randomly divided into two groups. The control group(n=48) was treated with methotrexate plus diclofenac sodium and folic acid sustainedrelease capsule for 6 months. And the treatment group(n=48) was treated with sinomenine additionally. The clinical effect, symptoms changes, ESR, CRP, BMD and adverse reactions in two groups after treatment were observed and compared. Results The total effective rate in treatment group and control group was 93.75% and 79.17%, it was statistically different(P0.05). The symptomes as morning stiff time, index of joint tenderness, swelling, function and HAQ score were significantly improved in treatment group compared with control group after treatment(P0.05). After treatment, the level of ESR, CRP in both groups was remarkablely reduced(P0.05), and the BMD in treatment group was significantly improved than those before treatment(P0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in treatment group was significantly lower than that in control group(P0.05). Conclusion Sinomenine combined with methotrexate for RA patients may contribute to improve the clinical symptoms, reduce the adverse reactions, regulate bone metabolism, postpone and even reduce bone destruction.