Research appearing in Arthritis and Rheumatism (2002 Jul;46(7):1735-43) looked at the response rheumatoid arthritis patients had to the herb, Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TWHF). The subjects of the study were 35 patients who had not responded to conventional therapy. They were randomly assigned to receive a high dose of TWHF (360 mg/day), a low dose of TWHF (180 mg/day), or a placebo. The study lasted 20 weeks. Subjects were evaluated with criteria from the American College of Rheumatology, and a successful response was defined as a 20% improvement by those standards. None of the patients in the placebo group met the criteria for improvement, but 75% of those in the high dose group and 40% in the low dose group met the American College of Rheumatology criteria for 20% (or more) improvement.

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