According to a recent meta-analysis published in “Clinical Rheumatology” journal, Baricitinib, a JAK 1 and 2 inhibitor has proven to manage rheumatoid arthritis (RA) effectively with no significant safety concerns.

JAK (Janus kinases), play an important role in RA pathogenesis and Baricitinib, therefore, plays a crucial role in RA control. There's no question regarding Baricitinib efficacy; however comprehensive efficacy evaluation was still to be assessed. Sumit Kunwar and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis to determine the inclusive efficacy and safety profile of Baricitinib. The data for analysis were collected from search engines like Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE and PUBMED from 24 September 2017. The abstracts with no full-text publications were not included. The meta-analysis of 2 and 4 mg Baricitinib was achieved via RevMan 5.3 which involved 95% odds ratio and confidence interval. In the first six months of treatment, 2 mg Baricitinib was significantly more effective in achieving ACR20, ACR50 and ACR70 responses as compared to placebo. Likewise, 4 mg Baricitinib also showed more efficacy as compared to placebo. About safety concerns as compared to placebo, 2 and 4 mg Baricitinib one time a day did not manifest any side effect or adverse events.

However, 4 mg Baricitinib exhibited the increased herpes zoster infection instances as compared to placebo.