[Treatment of ankylosing spondylitis with salazosulfapyridine. A controlled double-blind study in 60 patients].

The efficacy of salazosulfapyridine (SI) has been recently reported in the course of peripheral arthritis in ankylosing spondylarthritis (SPA), but is action on the axial forms of the disease was not known. We have therefore conducted a therapeutic trial in 60 patients suffering from SPA, without peripheral involvement clinical sign evoking an enterocolopathy. This double-blind study compared the activity of SI at a dose of 2 g/day with a placebo, for 6 months. Thirteen patients had to discontinue the treatment: 6 in the placebo group (inefficacy: 3 cases, anemia: 1 case, epigastric pain: 1 case, rash: 1 case) and 7 cases in the SI group (inefficacy: 2 cases, nauseous: 3 cases, abdominal pain: 1 case, moderate elevation of transaminases: 1 case). These 13 patients were kept for the global analysis and considered as therapeutic failures. The treatment was considered effective in 15 out of 30 patients of group SI and in 30 patients on placebo (p less than 0.02). In addition, in group SI, a statistically significant decrease of the daily dose of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs was observed (-6.5 +/- 7.2 versus -2.4 +/- 6.4 in the placebo group, p less than 0.05); also was observed a decrease of the functional index (-5.9 +/- 6.6 versus -1.9 +/- 5.7 in the group placebo, p less than 0.05) and of the serum level of immunoglobulin G (-1.8 +/- 3.6 g/l versus +0.8 +/- 2.9 in the placebo group, p less than 0.025).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)