Efficacy and safety of electroporation and MTX combination therapy for the patients with RA

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26462314
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Orthopaedic surgery
• Research Institution: Osaka City University
• Principal Investigator: Tada Masahiro 大阪市立大学, 大学院医学研究科, 客員研究員 (20514235)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 関節リウマチ / drug delivery system / 電気穿孔法 / 関節エコー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have persistent active synovitis only in small joints are found after remission. For those patients, topical treatments such as intraarticular injection of glucocorticoid are indicated. In this phase 2 study, we analyzed the efficacy and safety of injection of methotrexate (MTX) into swollen small joints combined with electroporation (EP) and evaluated by ultrasound at 26 weeks after injection. Three patients received this treatment and 2 received MTX injection with only EP maneuver as control. All patients were allocated in 2 groups randomly.
No adverse events of skin burn nor pain were found in the treatment group. The degree of synovitis was decreased in 2 of 3 in the treatment group, however those did not change in maneuver group. The number included in this study requires 40 for statistical analysis in the initial protocol, however the population were very small in this time. The study with larger population is needed in the future.

Free Research Field

関節リウマチ