Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis.

Disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are widely used and well accepted for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Many studies have been performed with monotherapy and combinations of DMARDs showing their efficacy and safety. In ankylosing spondylitis (AS) DMARDs, sulfasalazine especially, are recommended only for the peripheral involvement and not for the axial symptoms. For this disease there is a lack of clinical trials and most of the trials did not show efficacy on the axial symptoms of the disease. In this paper, the differences and similarities of DMARDs in the treatment of RA and AS patients will be discussed.