Key clinical point: The addition of iguratimod (IGU) can effectively reduce methotrexate (MTX) dose required by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with long-term clinical remission.
Major finding: MTX dose could be reduced from 8.6±2.4 mg/week to 4.7±2.2 mg/week at 36 weeks. Despite MTX dose reduction, disease activity score 28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate was maintained at 1.48 at baseline and 1.69 at 36 weeks ( P = .911). Other than drug discontinuation by 2 patients in the IGU addition group, no other adverse events were observed.
Study details : Findings are from a prospective analysis of 47 patients with RA who had sustained clinical remission with MTX for more than 24 weeks. Patients either continued constant MTX dose (n=25) or were treated with additional IGU and tapered MTX dose (n=22).
Disclosures: No source of funding was declared. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Yoshikawa A et al. Mod Rheumatol. 2021 Mar 16. doi: 10.1080/14397595.2021.1892945 .