Effectiveness of iguratimod as monotherapy or combined therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs

Abstract

Abstract Background This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the iguratimod (IGU) as monotherapy or combined therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by using meta-analysis. Methods We searched Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane library, CNKI, Wanfang medical network from initial to 30 June, 2020, for randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Two authors independently screened the studies via reading the title, abstract, and full text. The risk of bias in individual studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. STATA 12.0 was used for pooled analysis of all included studies. Results A total of 23 RCTs were included in this analysis. Meta-analysis showed that patients in the IGU monotherapy or combined therapy group had significantly higher ACR20 (OR = 1.97, 95% CI 1.29 to 3.00, P = 0.002), lower DAS28-CRP (SMD = −3.49, 95% CI −5.40 to −1.58, P 0.05). Conclusions Our evidence suggests that IGU is effective and tolerant as monotherapy or combined therapy especially with methotrexate in patients with active RA. IGU may be regarded as a potential alternative to methotrexate, and a preferable choice when combined with other DMARDs for the treatment of RA.

Keywords

• Iguratimod
• Monotherapy
• Combined therapy
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Meta-analysis