Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in hand osteoarthritis: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial

4 years ago

Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in hand osteoarthritis: a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial

Bart Grillet, Margreet Kloppenburg, Peter de Sonnaville, Andreas Gerards, Margriet Huisman, Mieke Hazes, Marc R. Kok, Bianca Boxma-de Klerk, Weiching Lee, Natalja Basoski, Angelique Weel, Liesbeth Ruijgrok

Objective To determine the symptom modifying effect of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in hand osteoarthritis (OA). Methods In this randomized, double blind, multicenter trial, patients with symptomatic hand OA received either HCQ 400 mg once a day or placebo during 24 weeks. The primary outcome was change of pain measured on a 100 mm VAS at 24 weeks. Secondary outcomes included decrease of pain at week 6 and 12 and change in AUSCAN and AIMS2-SF total scores. Results 196 patients were included (placebo n=98, HCQ n=98). Mean (SD) age was 58.0 (7.6) years; 86% were female. Baseline mean pain VAS (standard deviation) was 44.9 (22.9) mm in the placebo group and 43.2 (22.3) mm in the HCQ group. At 24 weeks, change in pain VAS was not significantly different between both groups (imputed mean VAS 42.7 in the HCQ group versus 45.3 in the placebo group after 24 weeks), as was the case in pain VAS at week 6 and 12. Changes in AUSCAN total score and AIMS2-SF total score in both groups were similar between the groups. 24 patients in the placebo group and 21 patients in the HCQ group reported ≥ 1 adverse events (AE). In the HCQ group, 3 patients reported a severe allergic reaction. Fifteen patients withdrew from the study (5 placebo, 10 HCQ group) due to adverse events. Conclusions Treatment with HCQ (24 weeks) is not effective in reducing the symptoms of hand OA compared to placebo. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/acr.23471