[Efficacy, tolerability and safety of cyclosporine for microemulsion in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis. Open study]. / Eficacia, tolerabilidad y seguridad de la ciclosporina para microemulsión en el tratamiento de la artritis reumatoidea activa. Estudio abierto.

Cyclosporine for microemulsion has been widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with remarkably good results over progression of joint damage, as reported by the GRISAR Study. A local group in Argentina, performed a prospective, open label study (Neo-Ra-02), consisting of 12 centres which recruited 50 RA patients, who were followed during 6 months in order to assess efficacy, tolerability and safety of cyclosporine microemulsion in the treatment of RA. Efficacy parameters were: morning stiffness, functional evaluation (HAQ, Lee and Ritchie index) and laboratory and radiological (Larsen score) assessments. Safety parameters were: blood pressure and renal, liver and hematological laboratory data. Patients criteria for participation were: presence of active RA (as defined by the ACR), Steinbrocker anatomic and functional grade I to III, disease evolution no longer than 5 years, no previous history of hypertension, renal or liver disease and absence of DMARDs use during the previous 2 months. There was a statistically significant decrease in morning stiffness and in pain evolution. Improvement became evident after 4 weeks of treatment. Reduction of Ritchie index was significant also at 4 weeks and the same observation was made with tenderness and swollen joint scores. Regarding evolution of CRP and RF, a statistically significant reduction was observed only in positive RF. Safety parameters showed no significant increase in serum creatinine or uric acid: 6/50 patients developed mild hypertension with only a significant increase in systolic blood pressure in comparison with baseline. Cyclosporine microemulsion demonstrated efficacy with minimal adverse events (12% mild hypertension) when appropriately monitored and administered in low doses (3 mg/kg/day).

Eficacia, tolerabilidad y seguridad de la ciclosporina para microemulsión en el tratamiento de la artritis reumatoidea activa. Estudio abierto. / [Efficacy, tolerability and safety of cyclosporine for microemulsion in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis. Open study]

Cyclosporine for microemulsion has been widely used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with remarkably good results over progression of joint damage, as reported by the GRISAR Study. A local group in Argentina, performed a prospective, open label study (Neo-Ra-02), consisting of 12 centres which recruited 50 RA patients, who were followed during 6 months in order to assess efficacy, tolerability and safety of cyclosporine microemulsion in the treatment of RA. Efficacy parameters were: morning stiffness, functional evaluation (HAQ, Lee and Ritchie index) and laboratory and radiological (Larsen score) assessments. Safety parameters were: blood pressure and renal, liver and hematological laboratory data. Patients criteria for participation were: presence of active RA (as defined by the ACR), Steinbrocker anatomic and functional grade I to III, disease evolution no longer than 5 years, no previous history of hypertension, renal or liver disease and absence of DMARDs use during the previous 2 months. There was a statistically significant decrease in morning stiffness and in pain evolution. Improvement became evident after 4 weeks of treatment. Reduction of Ritchie index was significant also at 4 weeks and the same observation was made with tenderness and swollen joint scores. Regarding evolution of CRP and RF, a statistically significant reduction was observed only in positive RF. Safety parameters showed no significant increase in serum creatinine or uric acid: 6/50 patients developed mild hypertension with only a significant increase in systolic blood pressure in comparison with baseline. Cyclosporine microemulsion demonstrated efficacy with minimal adverse events (12

mild hypertension) when appropriately monitored and administered in low doses (3 mg/kg/day).

Double blind radiological assessment of continuous oral pamidronic acid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Continuous oral pamidronate (APD), 1000 mg/day, was administered to 14 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A control group of 13 patients with similar conditions received placebo under a double blind randomized study design. Periarticular erosion scores were significantly higher in the control group after 12 months treatment. This was attributed to a deterioration in this group rather than to an improvement in the APD treated one. By contrast, intraarticular narrowing score was not influenced by APD. Tolerance to oral APD was acceptable in all patients.

Differences in HLA class II alleles of isolated South American Indian populations from Brazil and Argentina.

We have studied the HLA class II alleles in 277 South American Indians, which included Argentinian tribes from the Gran Chaco: Toba (n = 135), Toba-Pilaga (n = 19), Mataco-Wichi (n = 49), and Xavantes, a tribe from Central Brazil (n = 74). In the Brazilian tribe, only four DR groups were found: DRB1*1602 (gf = 0.303), DRB1*04 including DRB1*0404 (gf = 0.070) and DRB1*0407 (gf = 0.077), DRB1*0802 (gf = 0.265), and DRB1*1402 (gf = 0.303). The HLA class II allele frequencies were similar among the different Argentinian tribes, and 90% of DRB1 alleles belonged to three families: DRB1*04 (including DRB1*0403, DRB1*0404, DRB1*0407, DRB1*0411, and DRB1*0417), DRB1*0802, and DRB1*14 (including DRB1*1402 and DRB1*1406). At the DPB1 locus, we found only seven alleles, the most frequent being DPB1*0402. Comparison of HLA class II alleles with those of North American Indians that we have previously studied shows that the frequency of some HLA class II alleles in Brazilian Xavantes resembles that of North American Indians more than that of the Argentinian Indian tribes. The allele DRB1*0417 was found exclusively in this population.

Effectiveness of etodolac ('Lodine') compared with naproxen in patients with acute gout.

A double-blind, parallel group study was carried out in 61 patients suffering from acute gouty arthritis to compare the effectiveness of etodolac and naproxen in the relief of symptoms. Patients were allocated at random to receive either 300 mg etodolac twice daily (31 patients) or 500 mg naproxen twice daily (30 patients) for 7 days. Both groups were comparable for sex, age and weight of patients, but there was a tendency for patients in the etodolac group to have more severe gout as shown by baseline clinical assessment scores. The variables assessed on entry and on Days 2, 4 and 7 of treatment were pain intensity, swelling, tenderness, erythema, joint heat, range of motion, and physician's and patients' overall evaluation of the condition. The results showed that there was a significant improvement from baseline in all of the variables at each time point in both treatment groups. However, more etodolac-treated patients (81%) than naproxen-treated patients (53%) showed overall improvement at Day 2, and etodolac was significantly better than naproxen on the Day 2 evaluation of joint swelling and at the Day 4 evaluations of joint tenderness, range of motion and the physician's global assessment. At the final evaluation on Day 7, 97% of the etodolac group reported that their condition had improved as compared to 93% of the naproxen group. Both drugs were well tolerated and only a few mild side-effects were reported.

Comparative double-blind study of tiaprofenic acid versus piroxicam in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee.

A double-blind, parallel-group study was carried out to compare the clinical efficacy and tolerance of tiaprofenic acid and piroxicam in 80 patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee. Tiaprofenic acid was administered orally at a dosage of 900 mg daily for 14 days and piroxicam at a dosage of 40 mg daily. The following parameters were assessed: spontaneous morning pain; spontaneous night pain; pain during walking; pain on passive mobilisation; pain on squatting; morning stiffness; duration of morning stiffness; local inflammatory signs; and overall mobility of the joint. All these parameters were evaluated before treatment started and at days 7 and 14. At the end of the study, the physician made an overall assessment, and the results were statistically evaluated. The results showed that in both groups of patients, the signs and symptoms improved significantly from the seventh day of the trial, but there were no significant differences between the 2 groups for any of the assessed parameters. However, the physician's overall assessment was in favour of tiaprofenic acid due to a greater number of important improvements.

Double-blind controlled clinical trial of oral S-adenosylmethionine versus piroxicam in knee osteoarthritis.

A double-blind, randomized, 84-day controlled clinical trial was carried out to compare orally administered S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) (1,200 mg per day) with oral piroxicam therapy (20 mg per day) in the management of unilateral knee osteoarthritis. The ability of each drug to maintain the results achieved at the end of the treatment period was also evaluated during a 56-day follow-up period. Forty-five patients completed the study, 22 in the SAMe group and 23 in the piroxicam group. Both SAMe and piroxicam proved effective in inducing a significant improvement in the total pain score after 28 days of treatment. With regard to the other clinical parameters (i.e., morning stiffness, the distance walked before the onset of pain, active and passive motility), improvement started from about Day 56 in both groups. No significant difference was found between the two treatments in terms of efficacy and tolerability. Patients treated with SAMe maintained clinical improvement achieved at the end of treatment longer than did patients receiving piroxicam.

Artritis psoriasica. Correlacion clinica inmunologica e inmunogenetica. / Psoriatis arthritis. Clinic immunologic and immunogenetic correlation

Fueron estudiados veinte pacientes portadores de A.P. en su correlacion clinica, inmunologica e inmunogenetica. En el primer aspecto nuestros resultados pusieron evidencia que la manifestacion cutanea se antecipo a la articular en todos los casos excepto en uno. En pacientes con gran compromiso reumatologico, como en las espondilitis, existia afectacion cutanea de mas del 50%. En el aspecto inmunologico las gammaglobulinas estuvieron elevadas o dentro de valores que en ningun caso descendieron del termino medio normal. Hubo aumento de las IgA y en menor grado de las IgG. Existio correlacion significativa entre aumento de IgA y superficie cutanea afectada.En lo inmunogenetico nuestros resultados coincidieran solo parcialmente con los hallazgos de autores extranjeros. Encontramos altas frecuencias relativas de los antigenos A2, A10, Bw35 y B27. En las espondilitis los resultados concuerdan con los datos de la bibliografia en la presencia del HLA B27