Abstract

Rheumatic diseases (RDs) are a group of chronic inflammatory and degenerative disorders of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, often of autoimmune origin. They represent a global public health challenge, being one of the leading causes of persistent disability, reduced quality of life, and premature mortality.
This review analyzes current epidemiological data and key immunopathogenetic mechanisms that determine clinical phenotypes. Particular attention is given to changes in prognosis due to new therapeutic strategies: the “treat-to-target” principle and the use of targeted agents — biological and synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The literature search was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, CyberLeninka, and eLIBRARY databases for the period 2018–2025, using the following keywords: “rheumatic diseases,” “prevalence,” “pathogenesis,” “immunology,” “biological therapy,” “DMARDs,” “treat-to-target.”
 

Keywords

rheumatic diseases (RDs) prevalence immunopathogenesis autoantibodies disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) biological therapy treat-to-target strategy.

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