A double-blind randomized controlled trial appraising the symptom-modifying effects of colchicine on osteoarthritis of the knee.

OBJECTIVES: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common articular disease. Common OA treatments are either not effective or associated with side effects. Calcium-containing crystals are quite common in primary OA and they worsen or may cause OA through induction of inflammation by neutrophils. Colchicine inhibits urate-crystal and calcium-pyrophosphate (CPP) crystal induced inflammation and elastase, a matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP) that play a pivotal role in degenerative joint processes. Hence, it was hypothesized that it may have symptom-modifying effects on OA. METHODS: Sixty-one postmenopausal patients with primary knee OA were enrolled. None of them had joint involvement atypical for OA or evidences of chondrocalcinosis in radiographic studies suggesting the presence of calcium-pyrophosphatedeposition-disease (CPPD). Participants were allocated to two groups receiving 0.5mg colchicines BID or placebo. Both groups received common OA treatments. Acetaminophen less than 2gr/day was used as rescue-analgesic. The efficacy end points were: patients' global assessment and physician's global assessment, recorded on a VAS (visual analogue scale). Statistical analysis was performed 3 months later. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients were assigned to the colchicine group. Fifty-eight patients were present for the last survey. Only 1 patient in colchicine group encountered adverse effect of colchicine without significant difference between the two groups. Acetaminophen consumption was significantly less in the colchicine (879.3±369.7) compared to placebo group (1620.7±393.1, p=0.000). Improvement rate at the end of 3 months was significantly higher in the colchicine group for both patients' global assessment and physician's global assessment measures compared to placebo group, (11.14±4.06 vs. 3.14±2.18, p=0.000) and (9.83±3.799 vs. 3.72±3.35, p=0.000), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy and safety of colchicine for pain reduction in OA was affirmed by our double-blind randomised controlled trial.

Effect of cyclosporine-a on paraoxonase activity in wistar rats.

BACKGROUND: Many adverse effects have been reported on using cyclosporine (CSA) in organ transplantation. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of CSA on paraoxonase (PON) activity and lipid peroxidation metabolites in early and late-stage of peroxidation and also total antioxidant (TA). METHODS: Twenty 220-250 g adult male Wistar rats were included in the study. The animals were stored for one week in the animal room before the initial injection to habituate with temperature, humidity, and circadian rhythm of day (12 h) and night (12 h). The temperature was kept at 23 °C. Animals had access to food and water ad libitum. RESULTS: A significant (p=0.002) increase in the serum levels of conjugated diones was observed in the case compared to the control group. At the end of the study, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in CSA group was significantly (p=0.01) higher than the control group. Serum PON1 activity was significantly (p=0.004) lower in the case than the control group. CONCLUSION: CSA administration could impair oxidant-antioxidant pathways and increase oxidative stress. Antioxidant therapy could be beneficial in patients treated with CSA.