[The role of the conventional drugs in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis].

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most frequent systemic connective tissue disease, is characterized by polyarticular symmetric chronic synovitis. It is generally a progressive disease with radiographic evidence of joint damage, functional status decline and premature mortality. Pharmacologic therapy for RA often consists of combination of non steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), glucocorticoids and disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Although NSAIDs and glucocorticoids may alleviate symptoms, joint damage may continue to occur and to progress. DMARDs should have the potential to reduce or prevent joint damage, preserve joint function and achieve remission. Many efforts have been taken in the past years to standardize the assessment of RA aiming at making study results comparable. Response criteria have been developed by the American College of Rheumatology and the European League against Rheumatism. These criteria have permitted the evaluation of the efficacy of the old and new therapies. The first one have been illustrated in this review. The second one will be treated in a next article.