Rheumatoid arthritis: Pathophysiology, current therapeutic strategies and recent advances in targeted drug delivery system

Recent advancements in technology and science thoroughly changed the basic understanding and treatment approach of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by progressive inflammation, bone and cartilage destruction, resulting in progressive disability, reduced lifespan and increased death rates. Recent advancement in treatment approaches has significantly delayed disease progression with long-lasting disease remission and thereby plays a major role in improving the quality of life for many RA patients. Despite this, nonresponsiveness to currently available RA therapies associated with considerable risk of adverse effects and drug tolerance by a significant population of RA patients were also need to be considered. Therefore, an improved and deep understanding of the pathophysiology of RA and disease progression in individuals is currently required to develop therapies for the efficient treatment of RA patients. Moreover, there is a continued need for a better understanding of pathogenesis of RA, current treatment regime, safety and toxicological concern with development of novel therapeutic strategies. This review summarizes pathophysiology of RA, recent conventional therapeutic agents and advancement in the current therapies of RA with more emphasis on targeted novel drug delivery systems (NDDS), safety and toxicological aspects of therapy, related patents, clinical trials progression with application of NDDS for RA therapy.