Department of Medicine, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 4102, Woolloongabba, Queensland, Australia.
Inflammopharmacology. 1999;7(2):89-105. doi: 10.1007/BF02918382.
Increasingly patients resort to alternative remedies for arthritis and rheumatism, perhaps partly impelled by reports of toxicities from prescribed non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID). There is uncertainty about whether the most common alternative treatments provide relief or may cause adverse reactions.
To ascertain the validity of manufacturers' claims permitted by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia for a range of self-medication products to treat the pain and inflammation of arthritis, available in local pharmacies, supermarkets or by mail order and in other countries.
OTC products were administered orally to rats in standard assays for suppressing experimental arthritis and fever and for determining potential gastrotoxicity.
The three NSAIDs available OTC were efficacious but gastrotoxic. Of the 37 herbal formulations examined, seven were as effective as ibuprofen in the anti-arthritic assay without causing gastric bleeding. Five of the 10 animal-sourced products tested were also effective without evident toxicity. Within a certain class of product, e.g. celery seed extracts or dried mussel preparations, efficacies ranged from almost zero to highly effective.
Consumers currently have no guide to the likely efficacy of TGA-approved remedies. Quality control is urgently needed to justify the veracity of TGA-permitted and other claims on product labels.
越来越多的关节炎和风湿病患者诉诸替代疗法，部分原因可能是听说了处方非甾体抗炎药（NSAID）的毒性报告。目前尚不确定最常见的替代疗法是否能缓解疼痛，还是可能引起不良反应。
确定澳大利亚治疗用品管理局（TGA）允许的一系列自我药疗产品的制造商声称的有效性，这些产品用于治疗关节炎的疼痛和炎症，可在当地药店、超市或邮购购买，也可在其他国家购买。
在标准的关节炎抑制实验、发热实验和潜在的胃毒性实验中，对大鼠进行了非处方产品的口服给药。
三种可在 OTC 获得的 NSAID 是有效的，但具有胃毒性。在接受测试的 37 种草药配方中，有 7 种在抗关节炎测定中与布洛芬一样有效，而不会引起胃出血。在测试的 10 种动物源产品中有 5 种也没有明显毒性，同样有效。在某一类产品中，例如芹菜籽提取物或干贻贝制剂，疗效从几乎无效到非常有效不等。
目前，消费者没有 TGA 批准的治疗方法可能疗效的指南。急需进行质量控制，以证明 TGA 允许的和其他产品标签上声称的真实性。
