Symptomatic Management of Lyme Arthritis

Overview

Lyme arthritis resolves with appropriate antimicrobial treatment in a majority of patients, but 10-20% of patients develop antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis with prolonged arthritis symptoms and treatment courses. Excessive up-regulation of the inflammatory process has been shown in patients with antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis. The over-expressed pro-inflammatory cell mediators are downstream of NSAID inhibition, which would suggest initial inflammatory inhibition may be beneficial in these patients. While NSAIDs are known to reduce pro-inflammatory cell mediators early in the course of inflammation, research has shown that there are other cytokines that play a role in the healing after inflammation that are also inhibited by NSAIDs, and that NSAID use can delay healing. It is not known if scheduled NSAID therapy will reduce, increase, or have no effect on the occurrence of refractory Lyme arthritis cases. The hypothesis of the study is that prescribing scheduled NSAIDs at the time of diagnosis of Lyme arthritis can prevent the development of the excessive inflammatory phase and decrease the number of patients with antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis, or at least decrease the duration of persistent Lyme arthritis symptoms. The pilot study design randomizes patients to scheduled NSAIDs, scheduled acetaminophen, or scheduled NSAIDs x 1 week than acetaminophen. Primary outcomes are duration of arthritis symptoms, number of refractory cases, side effects and compliance.

Specific Aims: 1. Demonstrate feasibility to ensure adequate patient enrollment and symptomatic follow-up of patients with Lyme arthritis. 2. Develop pilot data necessary for sample size and power calculations: The purpose of the research study is to evaluate whether there is symptomatic benefit of schedule NSAID therapy in patients with Lyme arthritis diagnosis. 1. Quantification of antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis in our population 2. Symptomatic outcomes of patients with Lyme arthritis on scheduled NSAIDs versus those not placed on scheduled NSAIDs (duration to resolution and number of patients with resistant arthritis) 3. Assess side effects of patients with Lyme arthritis placed on scheduled NSAIDs versus those not placed on scheduled NSAIDs 4. Assess changes in resources (follow-up visits, further prescriptions) required for patients taking scheduled NSAIDs versus not taking scheduled NSAIDs Background: Lyme disease is the systemic tick-borne disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi infection, and is endemic to an expanding portion of the United States. Lyme arthritis is a common presentation of Lyme disease. While Lyme arthritis resolves with appropriate antimicrobial treatment in a majority of patients, 10-20% of patients develop antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis with prolonged inflammatory arthritis. Research suggests excessive up-regulation of the inflammatory process in patients with prolonged symptoms. The over-expressed pro- inflammatory cell mediators are downstream of NSAID inhibition, which would suggest NSAIDs may be beneficial in these patients. In fact, there is data that NSAIDs and/or disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) may be beneficial in refractory Lyme arthritis cases, once diagnosed as refractory. The hypothesis of the study is that prescribing scheduled NSAIDs at the time of diagnosis can prevent the development of the excessive inflammatory phase and decrease the number of patients with antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis, or at least decrease the duration of persistent Lyme arthritis symptoms. There are no known methods to identify patients who will develop antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis. This work is important to delineate optimal timing and duration of NSAIDs given the research that shows the anti- inflammatory effects during healing can potentially delay recovery. Significance: While antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis has been studied at a microbiologic/cytokine level as well as evaluated in terms of treatment once patients have been deemed antibiotic refractory, to our knowledge there are no published studies evaluating prevention. With no literature looking at the question of NSAIDs for the prevention of antibiotic- refractory Lyme arthritis, this pilot study is needed to adequately calculate sample size and power calculations for a large-scale multicenter study. There is anecdotal data from the Rheumatology and Infectious Disease departments at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh that early scheduled NSAIDs may decrease refractory cases, but there has been no formal evaluation into this question. Retrospective evaluation is challenging since the medications in question (NSAIDs) are over the counter, and clinicians may recommend scheduled or intermittent NSAID therapy without documentation, and certainly without prescriptions in the medical record. Many patients with refractory Lyme arthritis are placed on NSAIDs, but given the question of delayed healing with inhibition of prostaglandins during the healing phase of inflammation, the question of whether NSAIDs are beneficial in patients to prevent refractory arthritis is worthwhile rather than the current process of variable NSAID prescription.