Al-Bari MA Chloroquine analogues in drug discovery: new directions of uses, mechanisms of actions and toxic manifestations from malaria to multifarious diseases. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2015;70(6):1608-21. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkv018. Epub 2015 Feb 17. Review.
Ben-Chetrit E, Fischel R, Hinz B, Levy M The effects of colchicine and hydroxychloroquine on the cyclo-oxygenases COX-1 and COX-2. Rheumatol Int. 2005 Jun;25(5):332-5. Epub 2004 Feb 13.
Desai RJ, Eddings W, Liao KP, Solomon DH, Kim SC Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug use and the risk of incident hyperlipidemia in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2015 Apr;67(4):457-66. doi: 10.1002/acr.22483.
Hage MP, Al-Badri MR, Azar ST A favorable effect of hydroxychloroquine on glucose and lipid metabolism beyond its anti-inflammatory role. Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Aug;5(4):77-85. doi: 10.1177/2042018814547204. Review.
Rho YH, Oeser A, Chung CP, Milne GL, Stein CM Drugs Used in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: Relationship between Current Use and Cardiovascular Risk Factors. Arch Drug Inf. 2009 Jun;2(2):34-40.
Solomon DH, Garg R, Lu B, Todd DJ, Mercer E, Norton T, Massarotti E Effect of hydroxychloroquine on insulin sensitivity and lipid parameters in rheumatoid arthritis patients without diabetes mellitus: a randomized, blinded crossover trial. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2014 Aug;66(8):1246-51.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
