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Early treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with injections of gold may effectively improve the functional ability of patients. Intramuscular gold injections are generally reserved for more advanced cases of the disease. Researchers treated 440 patients with regular gold injections. In patients with recent-onset disease, gold treatments produced a 30% decrease in disability. Functional ability did not significantly improve in patients with arthritis of longer duration. Initiating treatment within two years of diagnosis may be most beneficial in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Measuring blood levels of soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R) may not be effective method for monitoring the condition of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disorder that affects the joints. Among 79 patients between 46 and 64 years old suffering from rheumatoid arthritis whose blood levels of sIL-2R were measured, 41 were treated with sodium aurothiomalate, 18 were treated with auranofin and 20 were treated with sulphasalazine. No significant association was found between blood levels of sIL-2R and different clinical indications of disease severity. None of the drugs affected blood levels of sIL-2R significantly despite clinical improvement among patients in all three treatment groups. Blood levels of sIL-2R have been used to monitor the condition of patients suffering from other disorders involving the immune system.

The synthetic drug inosine pranobex is capable of modulating the immune system, and has been used to treat various viral diseases, including herpes simplex infections. Inosine pranobex has been shown to improve some symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, such as morning stiffness, and is well-tolerated by patients, but may increase blood levels of urate. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a joint disease characterized by inflammation of the joints, stiffness, swelling, overgrowth of cartilage tissue, and pain. The effectiveness of inosine pranobex in treating RA was assessed in 24 patients with RA who were given this drug for 24 weeks; 26 patients were given a placebo, a substance with no known therapeutic effect for the same time period. Various indicators of RA, such as morning stiffness, articular index, grip strength, pain score, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive protein, levels of immunoglobulins G and M, and blood urate levels were measured at the start of the study, and at 12 and 24 weeks thereafter. Before the study, all indicators of RA were similar for both the treated and untreated groups, with the exception of C reactive protein, which was greater in the placebo group than in patients treated with inosine pranobex. C reactive protein is an abnormal protein present in the blood during active disease activity. Inosine pranobex did not improve any of the symptoms of RA, but did increase blood levels of urate. The results show that inosine pranobex is ineffective in treating RA. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)