Title:Functional Components from Nature-Derived Drugs for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Volume: 17
Issue: 14
Author(s): Qin Ma and Jian-Guo Jiang
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Effect, rheumatoid arthritis, single compounds, traditional chinese medicine, treatment.
Abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic disorder characterized
by persistent synovitis and systemic inflammation. Currently, the widely used
drugs for the treatment of RA are disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, biological
agents and glucocorticoids. But their clinical use has been limited because of
their adverse effects with a high frequency and high cost of treatment. It is essential
to find novel candidate agents. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been
used for RA treatment for a long period of time. In recent years, significant
amounts of studies have shown that some TCMs and their active ingredients have
obvious therapeutic effects on RA. In this review, the compounds in TCMs that
have an effect in clinic or animal experiments of RA are critically reviewed and
summarized. Moreover, the relationship between chemical structures of the compound and their activities
is analyzed. The relevant researches are described from the aspects of source, methods, result,
and related mechanism analysis. The existing studies show that most effective compounds in TCM for
RA treatment belong to alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols and quinines. It is hoped that the
data summarized in this review will be beneficial to the screening of new nature-derived antirheumatic
drugs.
