The optimal dosage of pefcitinib for the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis: A protocol for an updated network meta-analysis

Previous meta-analyses have indicated that peficitinib was the promising agent for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Meanwhile, a recent network meta-analysis has further investigated the comparative efficacy of different peficitinib regimes. However, pooled results from previous network meta-analysis must be cautiously interpreted because 2 eligible studies were missed. Therefore, we designed this updated network meta-analysis to further establish the optimal dosage of peficitinib in treating RA.

We will carry out a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with Markov Chain Monte Carlo method in order to merge direct and indirect evidence. We will identify potentially eligible studies through searching 4 databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledgement Infrastructure (CNKI) until to December 2020. We will make this network meta-analysis following the process recommended by the Cochrane Handbook.

As a systematic and chronic autoimmune disease, RA primarily was characterized by persistent synovitis, progressive joint injury, and deformity. Patients who were identified as RA will experience a series of adverse consequences such as disability and poor quality of life (QoL). Peficitinib, one of the Janus kinases (JAKs) inhibitors, has been suggested to be effective in treating active RA by numerous clinical studies and meta-analyses. Although a recent meta-analysis investigated the comparative efficacy of different dosages of peficitinib, reliable results cannot be obtained because it missed 2 critical eligible studies. We designed this updated network meta-analysis through including all eligible studies to further ask which dosages may be the preferred option for treating active RA.

No ethics approval and informed consent will be required in our meta-analysis. Our findings in this updated network meta-analysis will be disseminated via conferences and academic journal.

This protocol of updated network meta-analysis has been registered in Open Science Framework (OSF) system on January 8, 2021. The unique registration DOI number of 10.17605/OSF.IO/YSPM6 has been approved for our protocol (accessible at: https://osf.io/yspm6).