@article{428f8488313e4b34a87d282df0df8396,
title = "Is there a role for antibiotics in the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis?",
abstract = "Despite many advances in the understanding and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, its pathophysiology remains incompletely understood. An infectious aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis has long been postulated but, even though many continue to believe that there is a 'triggering agent for rheumatoid arthritis', none has been identified. Currently, both sulfasalazine and minocycline have been shown to be effective treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and are being used increasingly. In the case of minocycline, it appears that its ability to inhibit metalloproteases is an important characteristic that may account for some or part of its action against rheumatoid arthritis. Whether the antibacterial effects of these drugs or others are important in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis continues to be investigated.",
author = "O'Dell, {James R.}",
note = "Funding Information: Other antimicrobial agents that have been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis include rifampicin, metronidazole, griseofulvin and most recently azithromycin. Rifampicin was initially advocated as a treatment for persistent knee effusion in rheumatoid arthritis patients;[11] later, patients with rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis were reported to have significant improvement of their rheumatoid arthritis when treated with drug regimens that included rifampicin.[36]Subsequent controlled studies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with oral rifampicin have not shown significant improvement.[12,13] A blinded and controlled study comparing metronidazole with placebo failed to show any advantage for metronidazole.[37] The antimycotic griseofulvin was shown to perform worse than placebo in a 1-year trial.[38] Finally, a trial funded by the National Institutes of Health in the US is currently evaluating intravenous doxycycline with azithromycin for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.",
year = "1999",
doi = "10.2165/00003495-199957030-00001",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "57",
pages = "279--282",
journal = "Drugs",
issn = "0012-6667",
publisher = "Adis International Ltd",
number = "3",
}