Plasma and synovial fluid interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and substance P concentrations in rheumatoid arthritis patients: effect of the nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs indomethacin, diclofenac and naproxen

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Substance P in the context of rheumatoid arthritis.

The researchers performed an open, between patients, placebo controlled study in order to evaluate the effect of the treatment with the non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs indomethacin, diclofenac and naproxen on the concentrations of the cytokines IL-1 beta and IL-6 and of the neuropeptide substance P in plasma and synovial fluid of 24 rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Why It Was Studied

All patients had high synovial fluid cytokine and substance P levels, and high plasma cytokine levels at the beginning of the study.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 24 patients were involved.

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

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized and placebo-controlled study.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the Substance P group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Substance P could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

All patients had high synovial fluid cytokine and substance P levels, and high plasma cytokine levels at the beginning of the study.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Diclofenac, Indomethacin, Interleukin-1, Interleukin-6 and Naproxen.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of Substance P in 24 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 publication is from 1995 (Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.]), a journal based in Switzerland.

More context: the Substance P compound page, Rheumatoid arthritis research.