Role of raloxifene in the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis of rheumatoid arthritis patients

Abstract Objective Due to the severe side effects of long-term treatment using hormone replacement therapy, Raloxifene (RLX) is introduced with beneficial effects on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for postmenopausal women. This review was conducted to collect data from the available literature on RLX for the management of postmenopausal women suffering from RA. Method All studies published up to 2019 were searched in four databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Medline. All articles were searched using several keywords, including “Raloxifene” or “Evista” in combination with “Rheumatoid Arthritis” or “Autoimmunity”. Finally, six studies were selected for the review analysis of this study. In all studies, 60 mg/day RLX was administered for postmenopausal subjects. The majority of the studies showed that the use of RLX was effective in postmenopausal women who underwent corticosteroid therapy. No severe complications were reported after RLX therapy in patients with RA. Result Based on the obtained results, RLX is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that its short-term anti-arthritic effects are proven in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. It was well tolerated without serious adverse events. Conclusion It seems that RLX is a promising treatment candidate in postmenopausal RA due to its anti-arthritic and anti-osteoporotic effects and based on the outcomes of experimental postmenopausal arthritis in animal and human studies.