Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that is characterized by synovial inflammation, cellular infiltration in joints which leads to progressive joint destruction and bone erosion. RA is associated with many comorbidities including pulmonary disease, rheumatoid nodules and can have a pessimistic impact on quality of life. The current therapies of RA treatment comprise conventional, small molecule and biological antirheumatic drugs. Their utility as therapeutic agents is limited because of poor absorption, rapid metabolism and adverse effects (dose-escalation, systemic toxicity, lack of selectivity and safety). To overcome these limitations, the novel drug delivery systems are being investigated. This review has compiled currently approved therapies along with emerging advanced drug-delivery systems for RA treatment. Further, active targeting of therapeutic agents to inflamed joints via folate receptor, CD44, angiogenesis, integrins and other provided an improved therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of RA.
Keywords: drug-delivery targets; nanocarriers; polymer-drug conjugates; rheumatoid arthritis; synovial fluid.