Observing the Short-term Curative Effect of Tripterygium Glycosides Combined with Methotrexate in Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Tripterygium Glycosides combined with methotrexate in treating rheumatoid arthritis.Methods:40 cases with active rheumatoid arthritis were randomly and equally divided into the treatment group and the control group.The former were given orally methotrexate,10 mg each time and 1 time a week;and Tripterygium Glycosides 20 mg each time and 3 times a day.The latter were given methotrexate orally,10mg each time,1 time a week;and leflunomide tablets 20 mg each time and 1 time a day.After 12 weeks of treatment,improvements of their clinical indicators were compared,observing the incidence of the adverse reactions of the two groups.Results:After 12-week treatment,the ACR20 improvement rate of the treatment group was 70%(14/20),and that of the control group was 75%(15/20),with no significant difference(P 0.05).While the ACR50 improvement rates of the two groups were 35%(7/20) and 45%(9/20) respectively,with no significant difference(P 0.05).The degree of joint pain,morning stiffness,swollen joint count,tender joint count,erythrocyte sedimentation rate,and C-reactive protein of the two groups were significantly improved compared with those before treatment,the difference being statistically significant(P 0.01);there was no statistical difference significance(P 0.05) between the clinical indexes of the two groups after treatment.There were 2 cases with gastrointestinal reaction,and 3 cases respectively with leukopenia,elevated transaminases,and menstrual abnormalities in the treatment group;in the control group,there are 2 cases respectively with the gastrointestinal tract reaction and reduction in white blood cells and 2 cases with elevated transaminase.Conclusion:Tripterygium glycosides combined with methotrexate can significantly improve the condition of patients with rheumatoid arthritis,whose curative effect and adverse reaction rate are almost the same as in the treatment with methotrexate and leflunomide,so it can be used as a safe and effective method in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.