Enhancement of Deficient T‐Cell Function in Rheumatoid Arthritis by Tolmetin Sodium

The in vitro effect of tolmetin on deficient T‐lymphocytes from patients with autoimmune diseases was tested using a mitogen‐stimulation assay. For comparison, levamisole was also tested on T‐cells in the same assay system in this group of patients. Tolmetin and levamisole both showed enhancement of T‐cell function and normalization of mitogenesis in vitro. To evaluate the relevance of these in vitro findings to treatment of disease, four patients who had active rheumatoid arthritis and who had displayed repeated deficiency in vitro of T‐cell mitogenesis were studied. After baseline studies, the patients were started on tolmetin at an oral dose of 800 mg/day in divided doses. If no significant enhancement of T‐cell function was observed by four weeks, the dose of tolmetin was increased to 1600 mg/day. The results of the clinical study confirmed that tolmetin enhanced T‐cell function in vivo as well as in vitro in a manner similar to that which has been reported for levamisole. This normalization of T‐cell function by tolmetin was associated with clinical improvement.