[Well controlled comparative study in early rheumatoid arthritis with gold sodium thiomalate vs. auranofin]

RA Center Liaison Council conducted a comparative study of Auranofin and GST by envelope method on the patients with early RA who experienced the onset of the disease not more than two years ago. In final assessment of overall improvement, 57.9% of Auranofin-administered cases (22/38) showed moderate improvement or above. The comparable figure for GST group was 71.8% (28/39), but there was no statistically significant difference. Adverse reaction ADR incidence for Auranofin group was 12.2% (5/41), while 22.0% for GST (9/41), but the difference was not statistically significant. Drop out due to ADR was observed in 9.8% of Auranofin-administered cases and in 19.5% of GST-administered cases. The results of the study indicate that Auranofin is a most suitable DMARD than GST to be used for early RA, and GST is suitable for more active RA in view of its efficacy. But GST should be administered carefully because of its high ADR incidence.