Polymer nanotherapeutics: A versatile platform for effective rheumatoid arthritis therapy

Rheumatoid arthritis is an aggressive and severely debilitating disorder that is characterized by joint pain and cartilage damage. It restricts mobility in patients, leaving them unable to carry out simple tasks. RA presents itself with severe lasting pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints and may cause permanent disability in patients. Treatment regimens currently employed for rheumatoid arthritis revolve around keeping clinical symptoms like joint pain, inflammation, swelling and stiffness at bay. The current therapeutic interventions in rheumatoid arthritis involve the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and newer biological drugs that are engineered for inhibiting the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators. These conventional drugs are plagued with severe adverse effects because of their higher systemic distribution, lack of specificity and higher doses. Oral, intra-articular, and intravenous routes are routinely used for drug delivery which is associated with decreased patient compliance, high cost, poor bioavailability and rapid systemic clearance. All these drawbacks have enticed researchers to create novel strategies for drug delivery, the main approach being nanocarrier-based systems. In this article, we aim to consolidate the remarkable contributions of polymeric carrier systems including microneedle technology and smart trigger-responsive polymeric carriers in the management of rheumatoid arthritis along with its detailed pathophysiology. This review also briefly describes the safety and regulatory aspects of polymer therapeutics.