Primary hand osteoarthritis: should hydroxychloroquine be out of the picture?

Hydroxychloroquine should no longer be routinely prescribed for people with primary hand osteoarthritis, experts outlined at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis (affecting 8% of people aged 60 years or over), causing significant joint pain and disability. Current treatment options are limited as seem to only work for short periods and are not effective for everyone. Many also have side-effects which restrict their use.
Hydroxychloroquine has been used successfully in the treatment of mild rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases for many years, and was believed to be beneficial in hand osteoarthritis as well.
So experts split 202 people aged 40 years or older with primary hand osteoarthritis into groups. Half received oral hydroxychloroquine 400mg once a day for 24 weeks and the rest were given a placebo (pretend drug).
Hydroxychloroquine did not diminish mild-moderate pain from primary hand osteoarthritis. And treatment did not improve overall physical, social and emotional wellbeing.
“The findings from our trial do not support the prescription of hydroxychloroquine for patients with mild-moderate pain from hand osteoarthritis, either on a physical nor emotional level,” comments lead researcher, Natalja M Basoski. “However, further investigations will need to be performed to determine whether hydroxychloroquine relieves pain in other specific phenotypes of hand osteoarthritis.”

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Image credit: Hamid Najafi