Prednisolone combined with adjunctive immunosuppression is not superior to prednisolone alone in terms of efficacy and safety in giant cell arteritis:meta-analysis

Yates, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3977-8920, Loke, Y K, Watts, R A and Macgregor, A J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2163-2325 (2014) Prednisolone combined with adjunctive immunosuppression is not superior to prednisolone alone in terms of efficacy and safety in giant cell arteritis:meta-analysis. Clinical Rheumatology, 33 (2). pp. 227-236. ISSN 1434-9949

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Abstract

To conduct a meta-analysis of published data of the effectiveness of drug treatment in giant cell arteritis (GCA) to provide evidence to support the optimal use of glucocorticoids (GCs) and adjunct therapy. MEDLINE, CENTRAL and EMBASE searches were used to identify randomised control trials on the treatment of GCA. Studies included were trials in which: (1) the participants were classified as having GCA by the 1990 ACR criteria or biopsy proven disease; (2) parallel-group randomised control of at least 16 weeks duration had been conducted with at least 20 participants; (3) the design included either alternative adjunct immunosuppressant regimens, alternative GCs dosing or routes of administration; and (4) outcome data was included on either relapse rates or rates of infection. One thousand eight hundred thirty-six articles were retrieved, of which only 37 met the primary inclusion criteria. Sixteen of these studies reported some information about the GCs or adjuvant regimen used. Only ten studies were of sufficient quality to be included in the meta-analysis. Together these comprised 638 participants of which 72 % were female. Three studies compared various GCs regimens, with two comparing IV GCs, the latter showing a marginal benefit with respect to relapse (risk ratio (RR) = 0.78, 95 % CI = 0.54 to 1.12) but a greater risk of infection (RR = 1.58, 95 % CI = 0.90 to 2.78). Another three used methotrexate as an adjunctive agent and showed marginal benefit with respect to relapse (RR = 0.85, 95 % CI = 0.66 to 1.11). The remaining four trials compared prednisolone to dapsone, infliximab, adalimumab and hydroxychloroquine, respectively. There are various clinical trials of varying quality. The results from this meta-analysis show that the use of adjunct agents is not associated with improved outcome.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Musculoskeletal Medicine
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Nutrition and Preventive Medicine
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023)
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Health Services and Primary Care
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Norwich Epidemiology Centre
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Population Health
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 27 Jan 2014 13:54
Last Modified: 06 Jun 2024 14:44
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/47219
DOI: 10.1007/s10067-013-2384-2

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