the effect of low dose steroid (physiologic dose) and chloroquine in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

introduction: the regulation of neuroendocrine axis is one of the most important goals in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. disease modifying drugs such as chloroquine with low dose steroid is the first choice in clinical practice by some physicians. this combination therapy is evaluated by this study. methods: this survey is a prospective study on furty patients. variables for determining the activity index of disease were joint tenderness, joint swelling, morning stiffness and erythrocytes sedimentation rate in two years follow up. results: decrementation of disease activity index was statistically significant before and after treatment, joint tenderness (x²=7.205, p=0.007), morning stiffness (x²=19.253, p=0.00001), joint swelling (x²=14.107, p=0.0001), esr (t=2.428, p=0.02). conclusion: the combination of chloroquine with low dose steroid is beneficial in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis