ReviewNature reviews. Rheumatology2020
Methotrexate and its mechanisms of action in inflammatory arthritis.
Review in Nature reviews. Rheumatology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 333 papers, 5 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
333 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 617 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Literature Review on Methotrexate Hepatotoxicity in Psoriasis Management: Preconceived Notion or Real Threat?Acta dermato-venereologica · 2026Pooled it
- Therapeutic Potential of Stem Cells in the Treatment and Management of Immunomodulatory Disorders.Current pharmaceutical design · 2026Pooled it
- Non-targeted immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory therapies for idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Methotrexate for juvenile idiopathic arthritis.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of methotrexate on the immune responses to the COVID-19 vaccines in the patients with immune-mediated inflammatory disease: A systematic review of clinical evidence.Transplant immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of different folic acid doses on methotrexate-related toxicity and its association with erythrocyte methotrexate-polyglutamates in patients with rheumatic diseases: a single-center exploratory randomized controlled trial.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Trial
- Changing mindsets about methotrexate in the rheumatology clinic to reduce side effects and improve adherence: a randomized controlled trial.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Trial
- Overexpression of Synoviolin and miR-125a-5p, miR-19b-3p in peripheral blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients after treatment with conventional DMARDs and methylprednisolone.Clinical rheumatology · 2024Trial
- Exploring the gut microbiome and metabolomic interactions of antimetabolite drugs to optimize therapy.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- Biophotonics point-of-care diagnostics in low-resource settings: a South African perspective.Journal of biomedical optics · 2026Review
- Updates on the Evaluation of Lupus Arthritis.Rheumatology and therapy · 2026Review
- Managing Sjögren's Disease in Pediatric Patients.Paediatric drugs · 2026Review
- Metabolic Complications in Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Diseases: Pathophysiology, Clinical Implications, and Therapeutic Perspectives.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Beyond the Prevention of Anti-drug Antibody Formation with Uricase Therapy: Mechanistic Roles of DMARDs in Modifying Gout Flare Risk.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2026Review
- Natural Bioactive Compounds in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Experimental Evidence from Adjuvant Arthritis Model Supporting Combination Strategies with Methotrexate.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Fixed-Dose Rifapentine-Isoniazid (1HP) for Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment in Chinese Adults: A Prospective Real-World Safety and Pharmacokinetic Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Metabolic exhaustion and immune ageing in rheumatoid arthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Inosine-Triphosphate-Pyrophosphatase Activity as a Potential Predictor of Methotrexate Remission in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2026Article
- L-Carnitine Attenuates Methotrexate-Induced Nephrotoxicity by Modulating BAX/BCL2 Apoptotic Signaling and Preserving Podocyte, Endothelial, and Tubular Integrity.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- Dissociation Between Functional Performance and Structural Joint Damage Following Sertraline Treatment in Collagen-Induced Arthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
273 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite the introduction of numerous biologic agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other forms of inflammatory arthritis, low-dose methotrexate therapy remains the gold standard in RA therapy. Methotrexate is generally the first-line drug for the treatment of RA, psoriatic arthritis and other forms of inflammatory arthritis, and it enhances the effect of most biologic agents in RA. Understanding the mechanism of action of methotrexate could be instructive in the appropriate use of the drug and in the design of new regimens for the treatment of RA. Although methotrexate is one of the first examples of intelligent drug design, multiple mechanisms potentially contribute to the anti-inflammatory actions of methotrexate, including the inhibition of purine and pyrimidine synthesis, transmethylation reactions, translocation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) to the nucleus, signalling via the Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway and nitric oxide production, as well as the promotion of adenosine release and expression of certain long non-coding RNAs.
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.