To systematically evaluate the effects of Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets alone or in combination with methotrexate(MTX) and leflunomide(LEF) on the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients or animal models with rheumatoid arthritis(RA), and to provide reference for clinical application and related basic research, this study systematically searched databases of CNKI, VIP, WanFang, PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library, collected relevant clinical or animal experimental studies, used risk assessment tools to evaluate the quality of research, and used Revman 5.3 software to conduct Meta-analysis or descriptive analysis of the outcome indicators included in the literatures. Of the 1 709 papers retrieved, 3 clinical studies and 12 animal experiments were included. The results showed that compared with MTX alone, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets combined with MTX could further reduce the expression levels of peripheral blood TNF-α(SMD=-8.88,95%CI[-10.77,-6.99],P<0.000 01),IL-1β(P<0.000 01) and IL-6(SMD=-8.63, 95%CI[-10.57,-6.69], P<0.000 01) in RA patients. Compared with LEF alone, the combination of Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets and LEF could not further reduce the expression levels of TNF-α(P=0.20), IL-1β(P=0.17), IL-6(P=0.31). In RA animal model, compared with model group, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets could reduce the expression levels of peripheral blood IL-1β(SMD=-6.29,95%CI[-9.64,-2.93],P<0.000 2)in peripheral blood(SMD=-1.39,95%CI[-1.77,-1.02],P<0.000 01), joint fluid(P<0.000 01) and paw plasma(P=0.02), and also reduce the expression levels of TNF-α in RA animal model group. Compared with MTX alone, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets alone reduced the same levels of TNF-α(P=0.42) and IL-6(P=0.08) in joint fluid, while Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets combined with MTX could further reduce the levels of IL-6(P=0.000 1) in joint fluid; compared with LEF alone, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets have the similar effects on reducing the expression levels of peripheral blood TNF-α(P=0.16), IL-1β(P=0.32), IL-6(P=0.12), while Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets combined with LEF could further reduce the expression levels of TNF-α(P=0.008), IL-1β(P=0.02), IL-6(P<0.000 1) in peripheral blood. Therefore, Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets combined with MTX could further reduce the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood of RA patients. Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets alone could reduce the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood and local joint of RA animal models. Tripterygium Glycosides Tablets combined with MTX or LEF could further reduce the express levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in peripheral blood of RA animal models. Due to the limitation of literature, this conclusion needs to be further validated.
Animals ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Cytokines ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Glycosides/therapeutic use* ; Humans ; Leflunomide/therapeutic use* ; Methotrexate/therapeutic use* ; Tablets ; Tripterygium/chemistry*

Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use

Clinical categories of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) include single and multi-system disease. Pulmonary LCH is rare, which is an unusual interstitial lung disease with the characteristics of monoclonal proliferation and infiltration of Langerhans' cells to organs. We report our experience of a rare LCH case of multiple organs such as pulmonary and liver as the main clinical manifestation. The patient was treated with chemotherapy which included prednisone, vinblastine, methotrexate and 6-mercaptopurine for 52 weeks and follow up all along. The patient has a favorable clinical outcome.
Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Liver ; pathology ; Lung ; pathology ; Male ; Mercaptopurine ; therapeutic use ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Vinblastine ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo find a simpler, effectiver with less side-effect method for treatment of ectopic pregnancy.

METHODSOne hundred and fourteen patients of ectopic pregnancy were divided into two groups, the 56 patients in Group A were treated with Mifepristone and Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), and 58 patients in Group B were treated with Methotrexate and CHM. The therapeutic effect in both groups was observed and compared.

RESULTSThe rate of success in Group A was 82.14% and in Group B 70.69%, comparison between them showed no significance (P > 0.05). Time for successful treatment was 14.54 +/- 5.87 days in Group A and 9.00 +/- 5.09 days in Group B, comparison of them showed significant difference (P < 0.01). Insignificance revealed in comparison between the occurrence of side-effects for the groups, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, liver dysfunction and lowering of white blood cells, but significance was shown in re-menstruation time (43.43 +/- 1.77 days vs 38.38 +/- 1.13 days, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTreatments of combined CHM with Mifepristone or Methotrexate showed similar therapeutic effect in treating ectopic pregnancy, but the latter showed a quicker initiation and less side-effects in delaying the re-menstruation time.

Abortifacient Agents ; therapeutic use ; Adult ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Mifepristone ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; drug therapy

To systematically review the improvement effects of Tripterygium Glycosides Tables( TGT) alone or in combination with methotrexate( MTX) on the clinical signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis( RA),and provide a basis for the rational use of TGT in clinic,in the current study,six literature databases including CNKI,Wan Fang,VIP,PubMed,EMbase,and Cochrane Library,were systematically searched,according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Review Manager 5.3 software was used to input the literatures,and we assessed the risk bias on the level of outcome indicators for each included literature. A total of 18 literatures were included,and the classification results showed that: compared with MTX,TGT alone can reduce the number of joint swelling( MD =0. 18,95%CI[-1.06,1.42],P = 0.78) and joint tenderness( MD =-0.06,95% CI[-1.69,1.56],P = 0.94) in RA patients with the same effect as MTX. In terms of drug combination,TGT combined with MTX had an advantage over MTX alone in lessening the morning stiffness time( MD = 18. 24,95% CI[12. 64,23. 84],P < 0. 000 01) of RA,joint tenderness( MD = 2. 65,95% CI[1. 85,3. 44],P<0.000 01) and joint swelling( MD = 3.01,95% CI[2.09,3.39],P< 0.000 01). In conclusion,this Meta-analysis suggest that TGT alone was superior to MTX in improving joint swelling and tenderness in RA patients,TGT combined with MTX may improve the clinical manifestation of RA patients better than MTX alone.
Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Glycosides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Tablets ; Treatment Outcome ; Tripterygium ; chemistry

Kawasaki disease, an acute febrile vasculitis of unknown etiology, is usually treated with high doses of immunoglobulin (IVIG) and aspirin. However, 20% of children show persistent or recurrent fever despite IVIG, and coronary artery aneurysm progression. In such cases of resistance to IVIG treatment, repeated IVIG administration or the initiation of steroid therapy, and the use of cyclophosphamide have been reported. We aimed to show in this study that methotrexate (MTX) may be used as a treatment for Kawasaki disease resistant to IVIG treatment. We report the case of a 6-year old boy who was admitted at another hospital with an initial complaint of a fever for 5 days and skin rashes for 3 days. The patients fever persisted despite three courses of IVIG (2 gm/kg, 1 gm/kg, 1 gm/kg, respectively) over a 14-day period. On day 14 of his illness he showed a dilated right coronary artery, and on day 19 dexamethasone, at a daily dose of 0.3 mg/kg, was given but this resulted in defervescence. However, upon stopping the dexamethasone treatment, his fever recurred and he was transferred to our hospital. On days 31 and 38 of his illness, IVIG (400 mg/kg for 5 days, twice) was administered and from day 38 onwards the patient was given dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg, daily) and MTX (10 mg/BSA, once weekly) whereupon his fever subsided and did not recur. On day 48 dexamethasone was replaced with prednisolone, which was subsequently tapered. The patient is now taking MTX and being observed on an outpatient basis. We report the case of a boy with IV-globulin resistant Kawasaki disease, who after repeated infusions of IVIG and steroid therapy showed fever recruuence, which that subsided after MTX treatment.
Case Report ; Child ; Human ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous/*therapeutic use ; Male ; Methotrexate/*therapeutic use ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/complications/*drug therapy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the therapeutic methods and their effects on patients with cornual pregnancies.
 METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on 83 patients, who were diagnosed as cornual pregnancy at Drum Tower Hospital from June 2010 to April 2015. The patients were divided into 5 groups: a laparoscope group, angle resection and uterine repair guided by laparoscope (n=16); a surgery group, operated with angle resection and uterine repair (n=49); an abortion group, guided by ultrasound or laparoscope (n=6); a drug group, treated by methotrexate and mifepristone (n=8) and a pregnancy bursal puncture group (n=4). We compared the general conditions, surgery circumstances and average days in hospital among the laparoscope group, the surgery group, and the abortion group. Moreover, we also investigated the outcomes of the drug group and pregnancy bursal puncture group.
 RESULTS: Compared with the surgery group, the intraoperative blood loss in the laparoscope group and abortion group was less (P<0.05). The length of procedure and average days in hospital between the surgery group and the laparoscope group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The length of procedure in the abortion group was less than that in the laparoscope group or the surgery group (P<0.05). The cure rate was 100%.
 CONCLUSION The therapeutic methods based on patient's condition can improve the curative effect and prognosis in cornual pregnancy, which can keep the integrity of generative organs with less injury. The laparoscope might be a main therapeutic method for cornual pregnancy due to its safety, effectiveness, and minimal invasion.
Abortion, Induced ; Female ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Mifepristone ; therapeutic use ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Cornual ; drug therapy ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies

Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; drug therapy

Antirheumatic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Etanercept ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Methotrexate ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Prednisone ; therapeutic use ; Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor ; therapeutic use

The lungs are one of the most common extra-articular organs involved in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which is reported to occur in up to 60% to 80% of RA patients. Respiratory complications are the second leading cause of death due to RA. Although there is a wide spectrum of RA-associated respiratory diseases, interstitial lung disease is the most common manifestation and it impacts the prognosis of RA. There has been progress in understanding the management and progression of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) and RA-associated respiratory diseases recently, for example, opportunistic pulmonary infectious diseases and toxicity from RA therapies. From a chest physicians' perspective, we will update the diagnosis and treatment of RA-associated ILD, methotrexate-associated lung disease, and the complication of Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia in RA in this review.
Humans ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/complications* ; Methotrexate/therapeutic use* ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial/complications* ; Prognosis ; Lung