Rheumatoid arthritis-changing theories and treatment modalities

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder with symmetrical polyarthritis as the most characteristic clinical sign. Etiology and pathogenesis of the disease are basically unknown and therefore causal treatment modalities are currently not available. However, recent studies in the field of pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention have provided fascinating and promising data. The present paper focuses on some of these observations.