Trial reportAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2010
Effect of dexamethasone on autoantibody levels and arthritis development in patients with arthralgia: a randomised trial.
Trial report in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 172 citations in OpenAlex.
- Autoantibodies as predictors of progression to rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.RMD open · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic review of quantitative preference studies of treatments for rheumatoid arthritis among patients and at-risk populations.Arthritis research & therapy · 2022Pooled it
- EULAR points to consider for conducting clinical trials and observational studies in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2021Guideline
- A Phase 2 Trial of Hydroxychloroquine in Individuals at Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Effects of B-cell directed therapy on the preclinical stage of rheumatoid arthritis: the PRAIRI study.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2019Trial
- Prevention of rheumatoid arthritis: state-of-the-art and considerations for the design of new trials.EULAR rheumatology open · 2026Review
- Serum Proteomic Signatures of Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk and Response: Analysis of a Rheumatoid Arthritis Interception Trial.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- Review
- Treating connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease - think outside the box: a perspective.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025Review
- Deep immunophenotyping reveals circulating activated lymphocytes in individuals at risk for rheumatoid arthritis.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Article
- Precision Medicine in Rheumatology: The Role of Biomarkers in Diagnosis and Treatment Optimization.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Are seronegative patients with rheumatoid arthritis and clinically suspect arthralgia properly represented in randomized clinical trials?Clinical rheumatology · 2025Review
- Prevention of Rheumatoid Arthritis in At-Risk Individuals: Current Status and Future Prospects.Drugs · 2024Review
- Expansion of HLA-DR Positive Peripheral Helper T and Naive B Cells in Anticitrullinated Protein Antibody-Positive Individuals At Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Continuum of Disease and Strategies for Prediction, Early Intervention, and Prevention.The Journal of rheumatology · 2024Review
- Can the General Public Be a Proxy for an "At-Risk" Group in a Patient Preference Study? A Disease Prevention Example in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2024Article
- Rheumatoid arthritis prevention in arthralgia: fantasy or reality?Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
- The Natural Sequence in Which Subclinical Inflamed Joint Tissues Subside or Progress to Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Study of Serial MRIs in the TREAT EARLIER Trial.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRheumatoid arthritis is characterised by antibodies to citrullinated proteins (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor (RF) in the preclinical phase.
objectiveTo determine whether an intervention aimed at decreasing autoantibody levels in people at risk may be effective in preventing progression to arthritis.
methods83 patients with arthralgia positive for ACPA or IgM-RF were randomly allocated to intramuscular injections of 100 mg dexamethasone or placebo at baseline and 6 weeks. The primary end point was a 50% antibody reduction or normalisation at 6 months.
resultsThe primary end point was reached in one patient in each group. Patients treated with dexamethasone had reductions of antibody levels after 1 month (ACPA 222% and IgM-RF 214%), which persisted at 6 months for ACPA. During a median follow-up of 26 months, arthritis development in both groups was similar (20% vs 21%).
conclusionIn autoantibody-positive patients with arthralgia, dexamethasone treatment decreases ACPA and IgM-RF levels, but does not prevent arthritis development. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN73232918.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.