[Toxicity attenuation and efficacy potentiation effect of liquorice on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with Tripterygium wilfordii].
To investigate the toxicity attenuation and efficacy potentiation effect of liquorice on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with Tripterygium wilfordii (TW). One hundred and twenty RA patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the treated group treated with compound decoctum of TW and liquorice and the control group with TW ployglycosidium tablets both based on routine treatment. The therapeutic effect and adverse reaction were observed after 2 months of treatment. The total efficacy rate was 89.8% in the treated group and 79.6% in the control group with insignificant difference between the two groups; the effect was better in the treated group than that of the control group in decreasing the swollen joint index and increasing the average grip strength of both hands (P < 0.05); the total incidence of adverse reaction was obviously lower in the treated group than that of the control (P < 0.01). Liquorice has toxicity attenuation and efficacy potentiation effect on treatment of RA with TW.