薬理と治療

Abstract

Zinc is an essential trace element in the living body and is closely related to healing of injuries, dermal stabilization, activation of hormones, stabilization of the mind and nerves, retention of immunocompetence, etc. The serum zinc levels of rheumatoid arthritis patients are low, which may be associated with a decrease in QOL. Thus, the serum zinc levels of 312 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were determined. Polaprezinc, a drug containing zinc to cure gastric ulcer（Zn 34 mg／day）, was administered to 228 cases（73.1％）whose serum zinc levels were lower than 70μg／dL. Of these, 81 cases who were medicated with polaprezinc for more than 6 months and who were taking the same drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis as before were studied to examine the variation of serum zinc level, presence or absence of improvements in subjective symptoms, and DAS28. Of the 81 cases, a rise in serum zinc level was noted in 64 cases（79.0％）, and in these cases the CRP level and DAS28 were significantly improved. Subjective symptoms in mental instability and dysgeusia were improved. In addition, 17 cases with no change in serum zinc level nevertheless showed improvement in subjective symptoms such as arthralgia, articular distention, fatigue, rough skin, and stomatitis. The subjective symptoms of 19 cases who could not be treated with polaprezinc even though their serum zinc levels were low did not improve at all and their DAS28 also did not improve. As a result, it is suggested that the replenishment of zinc for rheumatoid arthritis patients may improve QOL.（Jpn Pharmacol Ther 2008；36：899−907）KEY WORDS DAS28, Polaprezinc, Rheumatoid arthritis, Zinc