Methotrexate is usually the first-line disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) for the treatment of RA. The main goal of its treatment is to reach disease remission but, despite its good efficacy, 1/3 of patients failed to achieve it. This could lead to the introduction of a biologic therapy which is more expensive and exposes the patient to a greater infection risk. Neutrophils through expulsion of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), were found to be important in RA pathogenesis (source of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, activation of fibroblast-like synoviocytes…). The formation of NETs is reactive oxygen species (ROS) dependent, while metformin can selectivity inhibit mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I and decrease NADPH oxidase activity, thus leading to a decrease in ROS production.~Metformin is the first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes. Recently, a study presented its potential impact in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus according to its metabolic properties and the inhibition of NETosis.~The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of Methotrexate/Metformin vs. Methotrexate alone on the decrease of RA activity in MTX-naive patients, after 6 months of treatment.
Methotrexate (MTX) is the anchor drug for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Despite its marked efficacy and acceptable side effect profile, about 1/3 of patients failed to reach RA remission. Metformin is the first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes. Its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties make it a good candidate for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.