Analysis of clinical effect of treating rheumatoid arthritis with sinomenine or glucocorticoid

Objective To observe the clinical effect of treating rheumatoid arthritis with methotrexate and sulfasalazine combined either with sinomenine or with glucocorticoid.Methods 72 outpatients or hospitalized patients with rheumatoid arthritis were randomly divided into two groups.The study group with 36 patients was treated with methotrexate and sulfasalazine plus sinome-nine,and the control group with 36 patients was treated with methotrexate and sulfasalazine plus prednisone.Sinomenirie was given by infusion and intra-articular injection and taken by oral sustained-release tablets in the study group.Prednisone was given by oral in the control group.Clinical observations included the duration of morning stiffness,joint swelling,joint tenderness and pain VAS score.The laboratory tests included rheumatoid factor,erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein.The efficacy of treatment was determined three months by the end of each month.Results It was shown that the four clinical efficacy indicators were significantly(P0.05) improved in both groups after the treatment compared with those before treatment.There were no significant differences between the two groups after treatment.There was no significant difference between two groups before treatment in all three tests,but there were significant differences(P0.05) in both groups after treatment.Rheumatoid factor decreased in both groups after treatment,but there was no significant difference.Both erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein were decreased and showed significant differences(P0.05) after treatment in the study group compared with those of the control group.Conclusion Based on the treatment with methotrexate and sulfasalazine,the clinical effect of sinomenine on rheumatoid arthritis is equal to or slightly better than that of prednisone.