The Role of Bromocriptine in the Treatment of Patients With Active Rheumatoid Arthritis Publisher Pubmed



Salesi M¹ ; Sadeghihaddadzavareh S¹ ; Nasri P¹ ; Namdarigharaghani N¹ ; Farajzadegan Z¹ ; Hajalikhani M¹ Show Affiliations
Source: International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases Published:2013

Abstract

Aim: We decided to determine the effectiveness of oral bromocriptine in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are in methotrexate (MTX) therapy. Methods: Patients receiving stable doses of MTX were randomized to one of two groups and received 3 months of double-blind bromocriptine (5 mg/day) or matching placebo. The moderate and major outcome measures were the proportion of patients with > 0.6 and > 1.2 improvement in RA based on the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) at 3 months. Safety measures included adverse events and laboratory assessments. Results: On a background treatment of MTX, the percentage of patients with moderate and major DAS28 responses at 3 months in the bromocriptine group (73.8%/59.5%) was not significantly different from placebo (63.1%/31.6%). Side effects were typically mild and included mild nausea and sleep disturbance; we did not have any adverse events resulting in discontinuation of the study drug. Conclusion: In patients with active RA receiving stable doses of MTX, bromocriptine showed non-significant improvement in efficiency outcomes compared to placebo. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases © 2013 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.