Praktické lekárnictvo 1/2017

The biological therapy of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease. Treatment by convention disease modifying drugs (DMARDs) is effective only in part of patients and it does not induce stop of progression or achievement of low disease activity. Application of biological therapy was a milestone of treatment of RA. Development of biological therapy (BL) was allowed only with recent information about pathogenesis of RA. Biological therapy is target – it is aimed at targets in pathogenetic process in RA. Biological therapy is effective in more than 60 % patients, when standard therapy by DMARDs was not effective. It stops and delays x-ray progression of disease and in one third of patients leads to remission of disease and improves the quality of patient´s life.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, biological therapy