In the CAMERA II trial, individual patients' curves for rheumatoid arthritis disease activity over time reveal the optimal methotrexate dose (that achieving a maximal improvement in disease activity). For 204 of 236 patients, the lowest optimally efficient dose (LOED) could be calculated: 10 mg weekly was the most frequent LOED in the 104 patients receiving both methotrexate and prednisone, while the 100 patients receiving methotrexate only, had LOEDs of 10 mg, 20 mg or 30 mg weekly. The researchers suggest 10 mg weekly as a sensible starting dose, although some patients require ≥15 mg weekly.
References
Nair, S. C. et al. Determining the lowest optimally effective methotrexate dose for individual RA patients using their dose response relation in a tight control treatment approach. PLoS One 11, e0148791 (2016)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Collison, J. Methotrexate dosing can be optimized. Nat Rev Rheumatol 12, 254 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2016.58
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2016.58
