Conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis
Keywords: Rheumatoid Arthritis blood gut intestinal microbiome
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 10
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
Acupuncture is used and recommended by the WHO for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The molecular bases of this recommendation are not known, the investigators want to compare with the usage of high-throughput molecular technologies the variations occurring in patients treated with acupuncture and conventional treatment with the ones treated with conventional treatment only. The investigators observe the variations in blood and in the gut microbiome.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: Acupuncture plus conventional treatment (methotrexate+leflunomide+non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) arm 2: Conventional treatment (methotrexate+leflunomide+non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs)

Interventions: intervention 1: methotrexate intervention 2: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) intervention 3: leflunomide intervention 4: methotrexate intervention 5: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) intervention 6: leflunomide intervention 7: Acupuncture
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: methotrexate: 7.5mg/week to 15mg/week for 3 months intervention 2: NSAID: 100mg twice a day for 3 months intervention 3: leflunomide: 20mg/day for 3 months intervention 4: methotrexate: 7.5mg/week to 15mg/week for 3 months intervention 5: NSAID: 100mg twice a day for 3 months intervention 6: leflunomide: 20mg/day for 3 months intervention 7: 30 minutes acupuncture every other day for 3 months.

Basic acupoints: Zusanli, st36; Taixi，KI3）; Shenxu, BL23 Additional acupoints due to personal condition: Waiguan，SJ5; Baxie，Ex-UE9;Yinlingquan，(SP9）; Quchi，LI11; Yanglingquan，GB34; Xuehai，SP10; Dazhu，BL11; Dazhui，DU14; Pixu，BL20.

Protocol document: