Improvement of the psycho-emotional state and cytokine profile of patients with rheumatoid ­arthritis and hepatic steatosis after therapy with thioctic (lipoic) acid and methotrexate

Abstract

Background. The social significance of such inflammatory diseases as rheumatoid arthritis is growing all over the world, which determines the need to find new ways to optimize the ongoing standard therapy. Aim. Evaluation of the effect of combined use of thioctic (lipoic) acid with methotrexate in comparison with methotrexate and meloxicam therapy on the psycho-emotional state of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and hepatic steatosis. Material and methods. The study included 60 women diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and hepatic steatosis. By the beginning of the observation, patients divided into two groups were comparable according to all criteria for inclusion in the study. The first group took methotrexate and thioctic (lipoic) acid, the second group methotrexate and meloxicam daily for a month. The psycho-emotional state of the patients according to the Spielberger tests modified by Yu.L. Khanin and depression according to Beck were assessed. Determination of pro-inflammatory cytokines was carried out by enzyme immunoassay. The research results were subjected to statistical processing. Results. An intergroup analysis showed that the use of thioctic acid and methotrexate led to a significant decrease in the level of anxiety in patients, in contrast to women taking methotrexate and meloxicam (the level of reactive anxiety decreased by 2.7 times compared with baseline data; p=0.03). It is also important to note the revealed correlation between the degree of decrease in the level of tumor necrosis factor and the severity of anxiety 1 month after taking the cytostatic and the hepatoprotector (Kendal's Tay-b correlation coefficient, r=0.732, p=0.046). Conclusion. The inclusion of thioctic (lipoic) acid in the basic therapy with methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and hepatic steatosis improves their psycho-emotional state in the form of a decrease in anxiety-depressive spectrum disorders, practically normalizing the level of pro-inflammatory tumor necrosis factor , the degree of reduction of which correlates with the degree of reduction in the level of anxiety.