Drug may prevent diabetes in arthritis patients

By Karla Gale

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The risk of developing diabetes is cut in half among rheumatoid arthritis patients who use hydroxychloroquine for treatment, according to research findings reported this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco.

"People with rheumatoid arthritis are at increased risk for diabetes, due to sedentary lifestyle, chronic inflammation, and use of steroid medications that can cause weight gain," Dr. Androniki Bili told Reuters Health prior to her presentation.

A study published in 2007 showed "an impressive 77 percent reduction of new cases of diabetes in rheumatoid arthritis patients who took hydroxychloroquine for more than 4 years," she added.

Bili and her associates sought to verify those findings by examining the medical records of 1,824 rheumatoid arthritis patients without diabetes at the outset; 525 had used hydroxychloroquine and 1,299 had never used the drug.

During an average of 3 years, the rate of newly diagnosed diabetes among hydroxychloroquine users was about half the rate noted in the non-users (17.2 vs. 33.8 new cases of diabetes per 1,000 people per year).

In further analysis adjusted for a variety of factors that might influence the results, having ever used hydroxychloroquine was associated with a 53 percent reduction in the development of new cases of diabetes.

These results confirm, and further strengthen, the previously reported protective relationship between hydroxychloroquine use and the risk of developing diabetes, the researchers say.

"We should revisit hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, because in addition to its disease-modifying properties, it might prevent the development of diabetes in this high risk group," Bili stated.

"Given the relative safety and low cost of this generic drug, hydroxychloroquine may be useful in preventing diabetes in other high risk groups as well," she added.