Bioactive Compounds in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a severe systemic autoimmune disorder with limited option available for treatment and no curative therapy available at present. Rheumatoid arthritis manifests clinically through polyarthralgia related to joint dysfunction, which triggers the autoimmune responses associated with antibodies against the self.neoepitopes and causes the chronic arthritic attack. Bone destruction is an important feature to understand the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis, which may lead to a serious concern for the patient for living a quality life. Available drugs for rheumatoid arthritis such as methotrexate, hydroxychloroquine, and sulfasalazine exert effects on bone metabolism in immune cells and cytokines that result in relieving pain, improving the quality of life but still, the chronic teratogenic and toxic effects are challenging in management of anti-arthritic drugs. This chapter reviews the current trend of bioactive compounds for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, which may lead to the development of novel anti-rheumatoid arthritis agents.