Effect of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs on Methotrexate Dosage, Corticosteroid Dosage, Rheumatoid Arthritis Activity and Laboratory Data in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

The effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on methotrexate (MTX) dosage, corticosteroid dosage, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity and laboratory data in MTX-treated patients with RA was investigated retrospectively. The MTX dosage was significantly increased in 67％ of the control patients, while in only 33％ of the NSAID-treated patients, MTX dosage was increased (p＜0.05). A significant reduction of corticosteroid dosage (p＜0.05) and RA activity (p＜0.01) in the control patients was observed. Changes in several laboratory data of RA patients during the observation period were similar between the two patient groups.