ABSTRACT
Inflammatory disorders are a heterogeneous group of idiopathic diseases that typically involved several organ systems. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology affecting 1% of the population. Rheumatoid arthritis has been shown to be a systemic disease with a high morbidity and mortality rate. The treatment of RA has changed from a gradual ‘‘step up’’ or ‘‘pyramid’’ approach to a more aggressive paradigmusing a combination of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) andmore recently, the
anti-tumor necrosis factors (anti-TNF) and other biologic agents. These agents have been instrumental in improving the treatment of RA. The success of anti-TNF biologics in RA has spurred the use of these agents in other inflammatory disorders such as ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and Wegener’s granulomatosis.
