Nucleic Acids for Potential Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Overcoming delivery barriers for RNA therapeutics in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

RNA therapeutics can manipulate gene expression or protein production, making them suitable for treating a wide range of diseases. Theoretically, any disease that has a definite biological target would probably find feasible therapeutic approach from RNA-based therapeutics. Numerous clinical trials using RNA therapeutics fighting against cancer, infectious diseases or inherited diseases have been reported and achieved desirable therapeutic efficacy. So far, encouraging findings from various animal experimental studies have also confirmed the great potential of RNA-based therapies in the treatment of rheumatic arthritis (RA). However, the in vivo multiple physiological barriers still seriously compromise the therapeutic efficacy of RNA drugs. Thus, safe and effective delivery strategies for RNA therapeutics are quite essential for their further and wide application in RA therapy. In this review, we will discuss the recent progress achieved using RNA-based therapeutics and focus on delivery strategies that can overcome the in vivo delivery barriers in RA treatment. Furthermore, discussion about the existing problems in current RNA delivery systems for RA therapy has been also included here.

Advancement in understanding the role of ferroptosis in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic disease of unknown etiology. The primary manifestation of RA is inflammatory synovitis, which eventually leads to deformity and functional loss. Ferroptosis is a non-apoptosis form of cell death that depends on intracellular iron accumulation. This leads to an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced-lipid peroxidation. The underlying mechanisms of ferroptosis are System Xc- and Glutathione metabolism, regulation of glutathione peroxidase 4 activity, and ROS generation. Recent studies have shown an association between the pathogenesis of RA and ferroptosis, suggesting the involvement of ferroptosis in the onset and progression of RA. In this review, we have focused on the mechanism of ferroptosis and its association with RA pathogenesis. Further, we discuss the status of therapeutics targeting ferroptosis in the treatment of patients with RA. Targeting ferroptosis could be a potential therapeutic approach for RA treatment.