OBJECTIVETo explore the correlationship between platelet count and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or Western medicine (WM) in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

METHODSA total of 356 patients with confirmed diagnosis of active RA from 9 clinical centers were randomly assigned to the TCM group (184 cases) and the WM group (172 cases). The TCM group was treated with basic therapy (administration of glucosidorum tripterygll totorum and Yishen Juanbi Pill) and TCM syndrome differentiation dependent treatment, while the WM group was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed with ACR20, the joint damage degree of both hands was evaluated by X-ray.

RESULTSThe platelet count was positively correlated to the X- ray grading of joint damage, namely, patients with a more severe joint damage often presented a higher platelet count. After treatment, in patients with joint damage of X-ray grade II or III and effectively treated with TCM, also in patients with joint damage of grade III and effectively treated with WM, the platelet count was lower than that in those treated ineffectively.

CONCLUSIONPlatelet count is closely correlated to the efficacy of drug therapy, therefore, it may be taken as an important index for judging the curative effect of therapeutic approach in treating RA patients.