Nucleic acids are linear polymers (chains) of nucleotides. Each nucleotide consists of three components: a purine or pyrimidine nucleobase (sometimes termed nitrogenous base or simply base), a pentose sugar, and a phosphate group. The substructure consisting of a nucleobase plus sugar is termed a nucleoside.
Other studies of Remicade and methotrexate indicate that the two medications together can successfully reduce symptoms of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, the researchers report. Studies of Humira and Enbrel in conjunction with methotrexate also revealed the combination to be more effective than the biologic alone.
Most patients who use methotrexate to treat their inflammatory arthritis take between 10 and 25 milligrams (mg) per week. By contrast, the doses used to treat leukemia and certain other types of cancer may be hundreds of times larger.