الفهرس 
introduction
RheumatiodOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the synovial membrane resulting in joint destruction and disability.
The clinical course of RA varies individually from mild joint symptoms to severe bone damage with loss of joint function.
The etiology of RA is unknown but it has a complex multifactorial pathogenesis with a fluctuating clinical course and an unpredictable prognosis. Approximately 15-30% of patient are unable to work within 1-2 years of onset of disease.
The goals of therapy now are not only to relieve symptoms and prevent joint destruction and disability, but also to achieve remission.
Traditional therapies such as NSAIDs ,glucocorticoids and DMARDs may help to relieve the symptoms but rarely induce remission and also they have toxicities that may prevent their long term use.
There is still some patients with aggressive disease continue to experience disease progression with radiological evidence of erosive damages within 2 years of onset, this leads to considerable functional disability within 10 years resulting in major economic,psycologic and social burden.
Major advences in molecular biology and biotechnology have enabled the development of drugs aiming at therapeutic targets which are proinflammatory cytokines involved in signaling pathways and cell prominent in the pathogenesis of RA.