The effect of alclofenac on clinical and laboratory measures of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: preliminary results.

The results are presented for the first 11 patients in an on-going 3-month study of 1 g. alclofenac t.d.s. or matching placebo added to the drug regime of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis uncontrolled by full doses of analgesic/anti-inflammatory medication. Two patients dropped out, 1 due to a rash on alclofenac and 1 for incidental reasons. The numbers at this stage are too small for meaningful statistical comparison, but show an apparent trend towards clinical improvement and increase in the free:bound plasma tryptophan ratio in the alclofenac-treated patients. Three acute phase proteins, C-reactive protein, alpha-acid glycoprotein and alpha-1 antitrypsin, were measured. They did not correlate with the E.S.R. and did not appear to be useful additional predictors of disease progression. It is hoped that the results from the rest of the participants in the trial will allow more meaningful discussion of the place of these tests in the assessment of rheumatoid arthritis.