A multicenter double-blind comparative study with
auranofin (
Ridaura) and Na-auro-thiomalate (
Tauredon) was carried out in order to investigate under controlled conditions whether the new oral
gold compound may be an alternative to
injections of
gold salts. 121 patients were included in the study, data of 86 patients treated for at least one year could be analysed. The following parameters were examined at regular intervals: number of painful and swollen joints, grip strength, morning stiffness,
pain and general health on the visual analogue scale, ESR; from these data the articular index and activity index (according to Lansbury, with slight modifications) were calculated. Blood samples for routine safety monitoring and serum
gold levels as well as urine tests were obtained regularly. Both treatment groups showed similar improvement in the values for efficacy measurements after one year, starting within 8 to 12 weeks. Patients in the
auranofin group with a disease duration of less than 2 years showed greater improvement in the values for efficacy assessment with the exception of grip strength and the number of tender joints than patients with a disease duration of 2 years or more. No such trend was seen in the
Tauredon-subgroups. Numerous side effects were recorded in both groups: 89.7% of the patients on
Tauredon and 68.8% of the patients on
auranofin had observed one symptom during the course of one year. There was a clear distinction concerning the nature of side effects: mucocutaneous symptoms, especially
rash and
pruritus, were approximately twice as common with
Tauredon, whereas diarrhoea was much more frequent in patients treated with
auranofin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)