Rapid Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Antagonism in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients with High Gonadotropin Levels in the AGRA Trial.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and pituitary gonadotropins, which appear to be proinflammatory, undergo profound secretory changes during events associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) onset, flares, or improvement e.g. menopausal transition, postpartum, or pregnancy. Potential anti-inflammatory effects of GnRH-antagonists may be most pronounced in patients with high GnRH and gonadotropin levels. Therefore, we investigated the efficacy and safety of a GnRH-antagonist, cetrorelix, in RA patients with high gonadotropin levels.

Methods

We report intention-to-treat post hoc analyses among patients with high gonadotropin levels (N = 53), i.e. gonadotropin levels>median, from our proof-of-concept, double-blind AGRA-study (N = 99). Patients with active longstand

SUBMITTER: Kass A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4603957 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature