Key takeaways:
- There have been no vital variations in HAQ-DI or CHFS rating change in sufferers handled with hydroxychloroquine.
- The query stays to be assessed in a randomized managed trial.
Hydroxychloroquine seems to haven’t any vital affect on purposeful incapacity or hand perform amongst sufferers with systemic sclerosis, in keeping with information printed in Arthritis Analysis & Remedy.
“A consensus printed in 2018 acknowledged that about 27% of SSc specialists used [hydroxychloroquine] to deal with SSc inflammatory arthritis, though no proof of efficacy has been offered, and no randomized managed trial was beforehand carried out for this endpoint,” Silvia Bellando-Randone, PhD, of the College of Florence, in Italy, and colleagues wrote. “[Hydroxychloroquine’s] efficacy in SSc is controversial, with two small research claiming efficacy and one research discovering no constructive impact.”
Information derived from Bellando-Randone S, et al. Arthritis Res Ther. 2025;doi:10.1186/s13075-025-03476-0.
To higher perceive how hydroxychloroquine impacts incapacity and hand perform in SSc, Bellando-Randone and colleagues performed a post-hoc evaluation of knowledge from the European Scleroderma Trials and Analysis (EUSTAR) database.
The evaluation included 17,805 sufferers with SSc, 468 (2.6%) who have been handled with hydroxychloroquine for at the very least 6 months (imply age, 51.7 years; 92% ladies). Sufferers handled with hydroxychloroquine have been propensity rating matched — primarily based on demographics, illness period and medicines used — with three management sufferers who didn’t obtain hydroxychloroquine.
The research assessed two patient-reported outcomes: incapacity, assessed by way of the Well being Evaluation Questionnaire-Incapacity Index (HAQ-DI), and hand perform, assessed by way of the Cochin Hand Operate Scale (CHFS).
In line with the researchers, 2.6% of sufferers with SSc used hydroxychloroquine. For as much as 1 12 months, there have been no statistically vital variations in HAQ-DI or CHFS rating change between sufferers handled with hydroxychloroquine and people who weren’t. The imply estimated variations in slope between the 2 teams have been –0.025 (customary error = 0.02; P = .24) for HAQ-DI and –0.58 (customary error = 0.5; P = .25) for CHFS.
“Within the largest examination to this point on this illness, utilizing a cohort research design, we discovered that hydroxychloroquine doesn’t have an effect on HAQ-DI or CFHS, however it’s used comparatively sometimes in SSc,” Bellando-Randone and colleagues wrote. “A potential, randomized, well-controlled trial is important to completely perceive the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in SSc.”
For extra info:
Healio Rheumatology may be reached at rheumatology@healio.com; X (Twitter): @HealioRheum.
Sources/Disclosures
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Disclosures:
Bellando-Randone studies no related monetary disclosures. Please see the research for all different authors’ related monetary disclosures.
