scholarly journals Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Overview

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2857
Author(s):  
Andrei-Flavius Radu ◽  
Simona Gabriela Bungau

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, primarily affecting the joints, then extra-articular manifestations can occur. Due to its complexity, which is based on an incompletely elucidated pathophysiological mechanism, good RA management requires a multidisciplinary approach. The clinical status of RA patients has improved in recent years due to medical advances in diagnosis and treatment, that have made it possible to reduce disease activity and prevent systemic complications. The most promising results were obtained by developing disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), the class to which conventional synthetic, biologic, and targeted synthetic drugs belong. Furthermore, ongoing drug development has led to obtaining molecules with improved efficacy and safety profiles, but further research is needed until RA turns into a curable pathology. In the present work, we offer a comprehensive perspective on the management of RA, by centralizing the existing data provided by significant literature, emphasizing the importance of an early and accurate diagnosis associated with optimal personalized treatment in order to achieve better outcomes for RA patients. In addition, this study suggests future research perspectives in the treatment of RA that could lead to higher efficacy and safety profiles and lower financial costs.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (21) ◽  
pp. 6570
Author(s):  
Tapan Behl ◽  
Tanuj Upadhyay ◽  
Sukhbir Singh ◽  
Sridevi Chigurupati ◽  
Amal M. Alsubayiel ◽  
...  

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, autoimmune disorder, predominantly symmetric, which causes joint inflammation, cartilage degeneration and bone erosion, resulting in deformity and the loss of physical function. Although the management of RA has steadily improved, the pathophysiological mechanism is incompletely elucidated, and therapeutic options are still limited. Due to shortcomings in the efficacy or safety profiles of conventional RA therapies, therapeutic alternatives have been considered. Therefore, natural extracts containing polyphenolic compounds can become promising adjuvant agents for RA global management, due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and apoptotic properties. Polyphenols can regulate intracellular signaling pathways in RA and can generate different immune responses through some key factors (i.e., MAPK, interleukins (ILs 1 and 6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), nuclear factor light k chain promoter of activated receptor (NF-κB), and c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK)). The critical function of the Toll like-receptor (TLR)-dependent mitogen-activating protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway in mediating the pathogenic characteristics of RA has been briefly discussed. Oxidative stress can trigger a change in transcription factors, which leads to the different expression of some genes involved in the inflammatory process. This review aims to provide a comprehensive perspective on the efficacy of polyphenols in mitigating RA by inhibiting signaling pathways, suggesting future research perspectives in order to validate their use.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julián Esteban Barahona Correa ◽  
Manuel Antonio Franco Cortés ◽  
Juana Ángel Uribe ◽  
Luz Stella Rodríguez Camacho

Introduction: Coexistence of more than one autoimmune disease (AD) in a single patient is known as polyautoimmunity, and may be seen in up to 35% of patients with ADs. The elimination of B-cells using Rituximab (RTX) improves clinical status in different ADs. The role of cytokine production by B-cells is unclear in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and polyautoimmunity. Methods: As an exploratory study, plasma from 11 patients with either rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or SLE-associated polyautoimmunity was assessed prior and 6 months after therapy with RTX. Eight healthy individuals were used as controls. Cytokine levels were measured using ELISA (IFN-α and TGF-β1) or Cytometric Bead Array (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and IL-12p70). Results: Prior to RTX, IL-6 was only elevated in RA and IL-8 was elevated in both RA and SLE-associated polyautoimmunity, compared with controls. After RTX, significant decreases of IL-6 in RA and IL-8 in SLE-associated polyautoimmunity were observed. Levels of other cytokines measured were either similar (IFN-α, TGF β1) or below the detection limit (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-12p70) for both patients and controls. Conclusion:Our data highlight the importance of B-cell cytokine secretion in RA and SLE-associated polyautoimmunity, and suggest a differential role in each pathology. A significant increase of IL-8 prior to RTX in both groups, and a significant decrease after therapy only in SLE-associated polyautoimmunity support the potential of IL-8 as a therapeutic target. The heterogeneity of the polyautoimmunity patient population highlights the importance of the selection of specific subsets in future research.


2022 ◽  
pp. 106002802110622
Author(s):  
Armando Silva Almodóvar ◽  
Dung Nguyen ◽  
Milap C. Nahata

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience pain from inflammation, joint destruction, and neuropathy. Antidepressants may play a role among patients with RA and depression, fibromyalgia, or neuropathy to achieve desired outcomes. This commentary evaluated evidence for medications individually and identified important variables for future research. While we await the results of well-designed studies, a trial of duloxetine or milnacipran may be considered for patients with remnant pain and RA remission. Research is needed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants in patients with RA and associated comorbid conditions.


Author(s):  
Abeer Fauzi Al-Rubaye ◽  
Mohanad Jawad Kadhim ◽  
Imad Hadi Hameed

The pharmacological mechanisms of the medicinal plants traditionally used for RA in Persian medicine are discussed in the current review. Further investigations are mandatory to focus on bioefficacy of these phytochemicals for finding novel natural drugs. Rheumatoid arthritis is chronic, progressive, disabling autoimmune disease characterized by systemic inflammation of joints, damaging cartilage and bone around the joints. It is a systemic disease which means that it can affect the whole body and internal organs such as lungs, heart and eyes. Although numbers of synthetic drugs are being used as standard treatment for rheumatoid arthritis but they have adverse effect that can compromise the therapeutic treatment. Unfortunately, there is still no effective known medicinal treatment that cures rheumatoid arthritis as the modern medicine can only treat the symptoms of this disease that means to relieve pain and inflammation of joints. It is possible to use the herbs and plants in various forms in order to relieve the pain and inflammation in the joints. There are so many medicinal plants that have shown anti rheumatoid arthritis properties. So the plants and plant product with significant advantages are used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The present review is focused on the medicinal plants having anti rheumatoid arthritis activity


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-320
Author(s):  
Mir Amir Aghdashi ◽  
Seyedmostafa Seyedmardani ◽  
Sholeh Ghasemi ◽  
Zohre Khodamoradi

Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is the most common type of chronic inflammatory arthritis with unknown etiology marked by a symmetric, peripheral polyarthritis. Calprotectin also can be used as a biomarker of disease activity in inflammatory arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Objective: In this study, we evaluated the association between serum calprotectin level and severity of RA activity. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 44 RA patients with disease flare-up. Serum samples were obtained from all patients to measure calprotectin, ESR, CRP prior to starting the treatment and after treatment period in the remission phase. Based on Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), disease activity was calculated. Results: Of 44 RA patients, 9(20.5%) were male and 35(79.5%) were female. The mean age of our cases was 53±1.6 years. Seventeen (38.6%) patients had moderate DAS28 and 27(61.4%) had high DAS28. The average level of calprotectin in the flare-up phase was 347.12±203.60 ng/ml and 188.04±23.58 ng/ml in the remission phase. We did not find any significant association between calprotectin and tender joint count (TJC; P=0.22), swollen joint count (SJC; P=0.87), and general health (GH; P=0.59), whereas significant associations were found between the calprotectin level and ESR (p=0.001) and DAS28 (p=0.02). The average calprotectin level in moderate DAS28 (275.21±217.96 ng/ml) was significantly lower than that in high DAS28 (392.4±183.88 ng/ml) (p=0.05). Conclusion: We showed that the serum level of calprotectin can be a useful and reliable biomarker in RA activity and its severity. It also can predict treatment response.


2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 744-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Emery ◽  
Roy M. Fleischmann ◽  
Ingrid Strusberg ◽  
Patrick Durez ◽  
Peter Nash ◽  
...  

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