Table 2

Details of immunosuppressive therapy in the included studies

First author	Drug	Percentage	Dose	Remarks
Andrisani	Azathioprine	41.3	2.5 mg/kg/day >3 months
	Methotrexate	2.1	10–15 mg/week >3 months
	Steroid	32.6	Prednisolone >20 mg/day for >2 weeks
Arenas Miras	Prednisolone	19.5	>7.5 mg
	Mycophenolate	N/A	243.1 mg (mean)
	Methotrexate	N/A	1.22 mg (mean)
Arias-Guillén	Immunosuppressant	31.2	Used within last 3 months	Azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate
	Steroid	13.2	Used within last 2 weeks
	Anti-TNF	15.6	Used within last 12 weeks	Infliximab or adalimumab
Bartalesi	DMARDs	61.6	N/A	Methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclosporine, leflunomide, cyclophosphamide, hydroxychloroquine
	Steroid	36.6	>4 weeks
	Anti-TNF	24.2	N/A	Infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab
Casas	Methotrexate	42.5	>4 weeks
	Leflunomide	16.8	>4 weeks
	Cyclosporin A	10.3	>4 weeks
	Others	6.1	>4 weeks	Azathioprine, efalizumab
	Steroid	42.5	>4 weeks
Costantino	DMARDs	49.2	N/A	Methotrexate, leflunomide, others
	Steroid	45.1	10 mg/day
	Anti-TNF	16.7	N/A
Hanta	Immunosuppressant	N/A	N/A
Kwakernaak	Methotrexate	48.2	19 mg (mean)
	Leflunomide	5.4	20 mg (mean)
	Azathioprine	1.8	150 mg (mean)
	Steroid	5	6 mg (mean)	These 5% of patients received only steroid
Laffitte	Immunosuppressant	68	N/A	Methotrexate, cyclosporine, efalizumab
Mariette	Immunosuppressant	50.5	N/A
Mariette	Steroid	59.7	N/A
Martyn-Simmons	Cyclosporin	17.1	N/A
	Methotrexate	15.7	N/A
	Fumaric acid ester	2.9	N/A
	Prednisolone	2.9	N/A
	Combinational	2.9	N/A
	Anti-TNF	5.7	N/A
Matulis	DMARDs	70.4	N/A	Methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclosporine, leflunomide, cyclophosphamide, hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine, mycophenolate mofetil, sirolimus
	Steroid	40.1	N/A
	Anti-TNF	59.2	N/A	Infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab
Papay	Immunosuppressant	47.1	Any dose >3 months	Thiopurines, methotrexate
	Steroid		Any dose >2 weeks
	Anti-TNF		Any dose within last 12 weeks
Schoepfer	Immunosuppressant	68.4	58% azathioprine >2 mg/kg, 18% 6-mercaptopurine >1 mg/kg, or 24% methotrexate >15 mg/week
	Steroid	25.0	69% low dose (<20 mg daily) 29% moderate dose (20–40 mg daily) 2% high dose (40 mg daily)
	Infliximab	14.9	N/A
Scrivo	DMARDs	70.6	Methotrexate (range 0–25 mg), leflunomide (range 0–20 mg), cyclosporin (range 0–250 mg), sulfasalazine (range 0–3000 mg), azathioprine (range 0–100 mg), hydroxychloroquine (range 0–400 mg)
Scrivo	Steroid	64.7	Prednisone equivalent range 0–50 mg
Wong	Azathioprine	35.1	Any dose
	6-mercaptopurine	4.9	Any dose
	Methotrexate	4.5	Any dose
	Steroid	4.1	Prednisone >15 mg/day for >1 month
Yilmaz	Hydroxychloroquine	57.5	N/A
	Azathioprine	28.2	N/A
	Mycophenolate mofetil	7.7	N/A
	Cyclophosphamide	6.4	N/A
	Methotrexate	2.6	N/A
	Rituximab	1.3	N/A
	Methylprednisolone	60.3	Methylprednisolone >10 mg/day

DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; TNF, tumour necrosis factor.