The Effect of Bromocriptine on the Disease Activity Index in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Limited studies have shown that the administration of Bromocriptine leads to clinical improvement in a number of rheumatic patients. Low price of Bromocriptine and its trivial side effects lead the authors to investigating the effect of Bromocriptine on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity. In a randomized controlled double-blinded quasi-experimental study the effectiveness of Bromocriptine in treating rheumatoid arthritis was evaluated. 80 patients were divided in two groups (experiment and placebo. The inclusion criteria were the presence of active rheumatoid arthritis (DAS > 3.2) in spite of medical treatment. In addition to the standard medications, the case group received single oral doses of 5 mg bromocriptine and the control group received placebo tablet and were followed up for three months. Independent T-test was used to compare DAS28 in the two groups. P < 0.05 was considered significant. The mean ages of the experiment and placebo groups were 46.2 ± 13.0 and 45.9 ± 12.5 respectively. Before the starting pf the intervention in the experiment group, the mean values of PRL and DAS were 11.7 ± 6.9 and 4.2 ± 1.2, and the mean values of PRL and DAS in the placebo group were 11.3 ± 6.2 and 4.6 ± 1.4 respectively (P > 0.05). After the intervention the mean values of serum PRL level and DAS in the experiment group were 10.6 ± 7.1 and 3.7 ± 1.3 respectively, that were different with those of before the intervention (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that Bromocriptine might be effective in decreasing the rheumatoid arthritis disease activity index, without any concerns about side effects.