Sulphasalazine: mechanism of action in rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Sulphasalazine a drug used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) shows a wide range of biological activities all of which might contribute to the beneficial clinical effect seen during treatment of RA. This review summarizes some of the biological activities and discusses these in context of possible modes of action of the drug. Sulphasalazine has been described as an antibacterial drug, an anti-inflammatory drug or as an immunomodulator. From the reviewed data it is concluded that the effects of sulphasalazine on various immunological processes, are of outstanding importance for its mode of action.