Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease causing
inflammation in the lining of the joints and leading to long-term
joint damage. According to the NIH, there are approximately 2.1
million people with rheumatoid arthritis in the US; in the UK, more
than 350,000 people have rheumatoid arthritis, and about 12,000 new
cases are diagnosed each year, estimates the Arthritis Research
Campaign. This month, Special Topics looks at the research trends in
rheumatoid arthritis over the past decade and over the past two years.
Clinical trials investigating treatments for rheumatoid arthritis
dominate both the 10-year and 2-year paper lists. These trials
include: VIGOR, CLASS, TEMPO, TARA, and TICORA. Treatments
investigated in these and other trials include rofecoxib, celecoxib,
inflimixab alone or with methotrexate, entanercept alone or with
methotrexate, cyclosporine and methotrexate, TNF-alpha antibodies, and
interleukin-1 receptor antagonists. The VIGOR and CLASS studies
particularly examined the long-term gastrointestinal toxicity of
rofecoxib and celecoxib, respectively.
Other drug studies included on the 10-year list include the
addition of misoprostol to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
therapy to reduce gastrointestinal complications; whether or not
glucocorticoid therapy protects the joints; and the efficacy of
prednisolone, methotrexate, and sulphasalazine in combination compared
with sulphasalazine alone.
Entanercept still appears to be a dominant therapy on the 2-year
list. Other therapies being cited heavily in the past two years
include rituximab, atorvastatin, adalimumab, and humanized
anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibodies. One treatment that was studied
and not recommended is entanercept in combination with anakinra.
Other topics on the 10-year list include a modified Disease
Activity Score study, the definition of improvement from the American
College of Rheumatology, and reviews of angiogenesis, cytokines,
interleukin-1, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. Genetics studies,
autoantibodies linked to rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and
progression, the risk of medical complications such as lymphoma, heart
failure, tuberculosis, and compromised function of regulatory T cells,
and the benefits of early referral and treatment are among the other
topics covered on the 2-year list.
Methodology
To construct this database,
papers were extracted based on title-supplied keywords for Rheumatoid
Arthritis. The keywords used were as follows:
rheumatoid*
The baseline time span for this database
is January 1995- December 31, 2005 (sixth bimonthly, an eleven-year
period). The resulting database contained 9,359 (10 years)
and 1,897 (2 years) papers; 22,764 authors; 88 countries; 1,010 journals; and
5,016 institutions.
Rankings
Once the database was in place,
it was used to generate the lists of top 20 papers (two- and ten-year
periods), authors, journals,
institutions, and nations, covering a time span of 1995-2005 (sixth bimonthly,
an 11-year period).
The top 20 papers are ranked
according to total cites. Rankings for author, journal, institution,
and country are listed in three ways: according to total cites, total
papers, and total cites/paper. The paper thresholds and corresponding
percentages used to determine
scientist, institution, country, and journal rankings according to
total cites/paper, and total papers respectively are as follows:
| Entity: |
Scientists |
Institutions |
Countries |
Journals |
| Thresholds: |
17 |
47 |
14 |
10 |
| Percentage: |
1% |
1% |
50% |
10% |
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