Rheumatoid arthritis: current therapeutics compendium

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common chronic inflammatory disease with substantial economic, social, and personal costs. Its pathogenesis is multifactorial and complex. The ultimate goal of rheumatoid arthritis treatment is stopping or slowing down the disease progression. In the past two decades, invention of new medicines, especially biologic agents, revolutionized the management of this disease. These agents have been associated with an improved prognosis and clinical remission, especially in patients who did not respond to traditional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Improvement in the understanding of the rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis leads to the development of novel biologic therapeutic approaches. In the present paper, we summarized the current therapeutics, especially biologic agents, available for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Keywords

• rheumatoid arthritis
• dmard
• biological therapeutics
• monoclonal antibody