A study reveals taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) — an anti-malarial drug — may reduce the risk of developing diabetes in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
HCQ has been a tried and true inexpensive treatment for autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), for years. Now, researchers from the University of Pittsburg report the benefits of taking it are better than ever. It turns out drugs like hydroxychloroquine may also boost glucose tolerance, helping to prevent diabetes mellitus.
Although the reduced risk of diabetes has only been observed in RA patients, the study’s lead author Mary Chester M. Wasko, M.D., said the benefits might not be limited to people with RA. “My hope is that further studies will indicate that the same association with reduced diabetes risk with drug use and RA will also pan out for non-rheumatic disease patients,” Dr. Wasko told Ivanhoe.
Researchers studied 4,905 adults with rheumatoid arthritis. Some of the participants had taken HCQ, some had not, and none were initially diagnosed with diabetes. After an observation period, 54 patients who had taken the anti-malarial drug were diagnosed with diabetes, compared to 171 patients who had not taken the drug. This data revealed patients taking the drug had a 38-percent lower risk of developing diabetes. After 4 years of taking HCQ, study authors report the risk of developing diabetes was 77-percent lower.
Data from the study was collected over a span of 21 years. Dr. Wasko attributes the success of the study to the participants. “A study of this scope required a huge commitment from thousands of patients this study never could have been done without their commitment to research,” Dr. Wasko said.
Dr. Wasco added, “People with rheumatoid arthritis are known to be at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, a condition which diabetes is also a known risk factor. So, for that reason, reducing diabetes risk in RA, above and beyond the obvious reasons, is an added benefit.”
More research needs to be done before HCQ can be recommended as a diabetes preventative for people who don’t have RA.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Mary Chester M. Wasko, M.D.;The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007;298:187-193