Basic antirheumatic drugs: the view of a clinical pharmacologist
Sologova S.S.¹, Chubarev V.N.¹, Maksimov M.L.², Grigorevskikh E.M.¹, Lapkina N.A.<sup>3

1</sup> First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M.Sechenov 
² Kazan State Medical Academy - a branch of the Russian Medical Academy of Сontinuous Professional Education
³ Yaroslavl State Medical University

The review describes the possibilities of modern pharmacotherapy in effecting the pathogenesis of development and the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases. Depending on the pathogenesis of RA, pharmacological symptomatic and pathogenetic therapy is used in the treatment of this disease. To improve the quality of life, the treatment is performed in two main directions: reducing the intensity of inflammation up to its full elimination, and correcting the immune disorders. For this purpose all combinations of known and new drugs are used. The most commonly used medicines are the following groups of drugs: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticosteroid preparations, synthetic basic anti-inflammatory drugs and targeted therapy, which are currently represented by genetically engineered biological products. The article considers the possibility of increasing the effectiveness of antirheumatic therapy by using a combination of leflunomide preparations and methotrexate taking into account the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of these drugs. The combination of these drugs reduces the synthesis of purine and pyrimidine bases and their delivery to lymphocytes. The proliferation of lymphocytes is inhibited. The interaction of macrophages with lymphocytes decreases, the inflammatory reaction weakens.

Key words: basic antirheumatic drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, rheumatoid arthritis, treatment, leflunomide, methotrexate, combination of drugs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs.
For citation: Sologova S.S., Chubarev V.N., Maksimov M.L. et al. Basic antirheumatic drugs: the view of a clinical pharmacologist // RMJ. 2017. № 14. P. 1033–1038.