scholarly journals The Role of Simvastatin in the Therapeutic Approach of Rheumatoid Arthritis

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Cojocaru ◽  
Andrei Constantin Rusali ◽  
Cristina Şuţa ◽  
Anca Mihaela Rădulescu ◽  
Maria Şuţa ◽  
...  

The pleiotropic effects of statins, especially the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory ones, indicate that their therapeutic potential might extend beyond cholesterol lowering and cardiovascular disease to other inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, we undertook a prospective cohort study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of simvastatin used for inflammation control in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. One hundred patients with active rheumatoid arthritis divided into two equal groups (the study one who received 20 mg/day of simvastatin in addition to prior DMARDs and the control one) were followed up over six months during three study visits. The results of the study support the fact that simvastatin at a dose of 20 mg/day has a low anti-inflammatory effect in patients with rheumatoid arthritis with a good safety profile.

2010 ◽  
Vol 120 (6) ◽  
pp. 219-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhav Lavu ◽  
Shashi Bhushan ◽  
David J. Lefer

H2S (hydrogen sulfide), viewed with dread for more than 300 years, is rapidly becoming a ubiquitously present and physiologically relevant signalling molecule. Knowledge of the production and metabolism of H2S has spurred interest in delineating its functions both in physiology and pathophysiology of disease. Although its role in blood pressure regulation and interaction with NO is controversial, H2S, through its anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, has demonstrated significant cardioprotection. As a result, a number of sulfide-donor drugs, including garlic-derived polysulfides, are currently being designed and investigated for the treatment of cardiovascular conditions, specifically myocardial ischaemic disease. However, huge gaps remain in our knowledge about this gasotransmitter. Only by additional studies will we understand more about the role of this intriguing molecule in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.


2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (01) ◽  
pp. 13-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teng-Le Huang ◽  
Horng-Chaung Hsu ◽  
Chun-Hsu Yao ◽  
Yueh-Sheng Chen ◽  
Jeff Wang

Although hyaluronans (HA) has been proved to be effective in the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, the correlations between these effects and the molecular weight (MW) of HA have not been systematically followed. Many different HA preparations are now applied worldwide in clinical usage. Their MWs are very wide ranged (500–6,000 kDa). No systematic review especially addresses the role of HA's MW in the effects of anti-inflammation and structure protection. This study evaluates the literature of the basic and clinical studies on biological, pathological, and clinical effects of different MW HA. Databases were searched through PubMed (period 1978–2009), using the terms hyaluronan, hyaluronic acid, arthritis, and MW. Reference lists of relevant articles were controlled for additional references. We define the "high" MW (HMW) as MW greater than 2,000 kDa and define the "low" MW (LMW) as MW less than 2,000 kDa in the current study. Most data that support the structure protective effect of HA are from the studies with LMW HA. On the other hand, the majority of data that recommend the anti-inflammatory effect of HA are from the reports of HMW HA. In conclusion, we suggest that the effects of LMW HA were more structure protective and those of HMW HA were more anti-inflammatory.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 967
Author(s):  
Micaely Cristina dos Santos Tenório ◽  
Nayara Gomes Graciliano ◽  
Fabiana Andréa Moura ◽  
Alane Cabral Menezes de Oliveira ◽  
Marília Oliveira Fonseca Goulart

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a medicine widely used to treat paracetamol overdose and as a mucolytic compound. It has a well-established safety profile, and its toxicity is uncommon and dependent on the route of administration and high dosages. Its remarkable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity is the biochemical basis used to treat several diseases related to oxidative stress and inflammation. The primary role of NAC as an antioxidant stems from its ability to increase the intracellular concentration of glutathione (GSH), which is the most crucial biothiol responsible for cellular redox imbalance. As an anti-inflammatory compound, NAC can reduce levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukins (IL-6 and IL-1β) by suppressing the activity of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). Despite NAC’s relevant therapeutic potential, in several experimental studies, its effectiveness in clinical trials, addressing different pathological conditions, is still limited. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the medicinal effects and applications of NAC to human health based on current therapeutic evidence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1005.1-1005
Author(s):  
Y. H. Lee ◽  
G. G. Song

Background:Methotrexate (MTX), an effective disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) [2], is the most widely used DMARD for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, not all patients are responsive to the drug; 30% of the patients discontinue therapy within 1 year of commencing the treatment, usually because of the lack of efficacy or undesirable adverse effects Small-molecule Janus kinase inhibitors are clinically developed for the treatment of RA.Objectives:The aim of this study is to investigate the relative efficacy and safety of tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib, and filgotinib in comparison with adalimumab in patients with active RA and having inadequate responses to MTX.Methods:We performed a Bayesian network meta-analysis to combine direct and indirect evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to examine the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib, filgotinib, and adalimumab in RA patients having inadequate responses to MTX.Results:Four RCTs, comprising 5,451 patients, met the inclusion criteria. The baricitinib 4mg+MTX and upadacitinib 15mg+MTX group showed a significantly higher American College of Rheumatology 20% (ACR20) response rate than the adalimumab 40mg+MTX group. The ranking probability based on the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) indicated that baricitinib 4mg+MTX had the highest probability of being the best treatment for achieving the ACR20 response rate, followed by upadacitinib 15mg+MTX, tofacitinib 5mg+MTX, filgotinib 200mg+MTX, filgotinib 100mg+MTX, adalimumab 40mg+MTX, and placebo+MTX. The upadacitinib 15mg+MTX and baricitinib 4mg+MTX groups showed significantly higher ACR50 and ACR70 response rates than adalimumab 40mg+MTX. In terms of Herpes zoster infection, the ranking probability based on the SUCRA indicated that placebo+MTX were likely to be the safest treatments, followed by filgotinib 200mg+MTX, filgotinib 100mg+MTX, adalimumab 40mg+MTX, tofacitinib 5mg+MTX, upadacitinib 15mg+MTX, and baricitinib 4mg+MTX. Regarding safety analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between the respective intervention groups.Conclusion:In RA patients with an inadequate response to MTX, baricitinib 4mg+MTX and upadacitinib 15mg+MTX showed the highest ACR response rates, suggesting a difference in efficacy among the different JAK inhibitors.References:[1]Fleischmann R, Mysler E, Hall S, Kivitz AJ, Moots RJ, Luo Z, DeMasi R, Soma K, Zhang R, Takiya LJTL (2017) Efficacy and safety of tofacitinib monotherapy, tofacitinib with methotrexate, and adalimumab with methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (ORAL Strategy): a phase 3b/4, double-blind, head-to-head, randomised controlled trial. 390:457-468[2]Taylor PC, Keystone EC, van der Heijde D et al (2017) Baricitinib versus Placebo or Adalimumab in Rheumatoid Arthritis. N Engl J Med 376:652-662[3]Fleischmann R, Pangan AL, Mysler E, Bessette L, Peterfy C, Durez P, Ostor A, Li Y, Zhou Y, Othman AA (2018) A phase 3, randomized, double-blind study comparing upadacitinib to placebo and to adalimumab, in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis with inadequate response to methotrexate. ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATOLOGY. WILEY 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA, pp[4]Combe B, Kivitz A, Tanaka Y, van der Heijde D, Matzkies F, Bartok B, Ye L, Guo Y, Tasset C, Sundy J (2019) LB0001 EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF FILGOTINIB FOR PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS WITH INADEQUATE RESPONSE TO METHOTREXATE: FINCH1 PRIMARY OUTCOME RESULTS. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, ppDisclosure of Interests:None declared


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