Clinical observation of treating rheumatoid arthritis using compound tripterygium wilfordii wine

Objective To investigate the effect of compound tripterygium wilfordii wine on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.Methods 328 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were randomly divided into three groups. In control group patients (n=92) were treated by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. In treatment group Ⅰpatients (n=127) were treated by compound tripterygium wilfordii wine. In treatment group Ⅱ patients (n=109) were treated by combination of compound tripterygium wilfordii wine and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The course was 4 weeks in three groups.Results Improvement of clinical symptoms and signs in post-treatment were obvious comparing those in pre-treatment in three groups (P0.01). Improvement of clinical symptoms and signs in treatment group Ⅰand treatment group Ⅱ were more than that in control group (P0.05). There was no difference in improvement between treatment group Ⅰand treatment group Ⅱ(P0.05).Conclusion Compound tripterygium wilfordii wine has a definite effect on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.