IJSR International Journal of Scientific Research 2277 - 8179 Indian Society for Health and Advanced Research ijsr-7-8-16315 Original Research Paper PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDY OF RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Rao Dr. N.V.G.Sravanthi Dr. August 2018 7 8 01 02 ABSTRACT

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. Autoimmune disease is an illness that occurs when the body‘s tissues are mistakenly attacked by their own immune system. The non–antigen specific hypothesis of the initiation of rheumatoid synovitis is that an early and episodic release of Tumour Necrosis Factor α (TNFα) and granulocyte–macrophage colony–stimulating factor (GM–CSF) from synovial macrophages and fibroblasts are induced by minor trauma, allergic responses, infectionsand local immune complex deposition. The major chemokine in RA is IL–8 and other chemokines are found in the synovial fluid of patients with RA, including macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha and monocyte chemotactic protein1.The clinical features of rheumatoid arthritis includes , Joint pain, pain in the joints of the feet, hands, and knees, swollen joints, fever, limping, polyarthritis, loss of range of motion, tender joints, loss of joint function, stiff joints, fatigue, joint redness, rheumatoid nodules,anemia, joint warmth and joint deformity.