A systematic review and meta-analysis of rituximab combined with methotrexate versus methotrexate alone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

BACKGROUND: This meta-analysis aimed to explore the efficacy and safety of rituximab combined with methotrexate (MTX) versus MTX alone in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: We performed an electronic search of PubMed (1950–January 2018), EMBASE (1974–January 2018), the Cochrane Library (January 2018 Issue 3), the Google database (1950–January 2018), and the Chinese Wanfang database (1950–January 2018). Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. The American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement criteria (ACR20), ACR50, ACR70, total complication rate, and infection rate were the outcomes. A fixed/random effects model was used according to the heterogeneity assessed by the I(2) statistic. Data analysis was performed using Stata 12.0 software. RESULTS: A total of five RCTs with 3299 patients (rituximab combined with MTX group = 1787, MTX only group = 1512) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled risk ratio showed that the administration of rituximab combined with MTX was associated with more ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70 than the administration of MTX only (P < .05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the total complication rate and the infection rate (P > .05). CONCLUSION: The administration of rituximab combined with MTX was effective and safe for RA patients. Additional high-quality RCTs with long-term follow-ups should be conducted in the future to identify the potential complications in the long term.