250
Views
19
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Review

Antibiotics for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Pages 43-47 | Published online: 27 Dec 2013
 

Abstract

Antibiotic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) commenced in the 1930s with the use of sulfasalazine. Later, tetracyclines were successfully used for the treatment of RA. In double-blind and randomized studies, levofloxacin and macrolide antibiotics (including clarithromycin and roxithromycin) were also shown to be effective in the treatment of RA. There have been several reports in the literature indicating that periodontal pathogens are a possible cause of RA. Oral bacteria are one possible cause of RA. In this review, we aimed to investigate the effects of different antibiotics in RA treatment.

Disclosure

The author reports no conflicts of interests in this work.