Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with nighttime-release prednisone

What Was Tested

Researchers studied ACTH (Corticotropin) and CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) in the context of rheumatoid arthritis in this randomized controlled trial publication.

This consisted of a 3-month active-controlled phase and a 9-month open-label extension with MR prednisone including patients previously treated with prednisone (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00146640).

Who Took Part

The study group was 28 patients.

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) tests were performed on 28 patients at 3 timepoints: at baseline on prestudy immediate-release (IR) prednisone, after the 3-month double-blind phase on either IR prednisone or MR prednisone, and after the 9-month open-label extension on MR prednisone.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and open-label study.

Because people in this ACTH (Corticotropin) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on ACTH (Corticotropin), so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Everyone knew when ACTH (Corticotropin) was being given (open label), which is simpler to run but leaves more room for expectations to affect what is reported.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Circadian Rhythm, Color Therapy, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Hydrocortisone and Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and open-label study of ACTH (Corticotropin) and CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) in 28 patients in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2010 (The Journal of rheumatology), a journal based in Canada.

More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page and the CRH (Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone) compound page, Rheumatoid arthritis research.