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[email protected] Present and future of combination therapy of autoimmune diseases disease remission, enabling changes in dosing and ‘A dual therapeutic strategy targeting scheduling of those drugs with the least conven- the dominating proinflammatory ient safety profile, leading certainly to a more milieu as well as the more specific individualized approach to medicine and open- immune response is, in our view, ing the possibility of identifying a strategy leading especially promising.’ to long-lasting remission. Treatment regimens for rheumatological diseases Combination of nonbiologics have changed considerably over the past 20 years. It has become common practice, that patients are To date, treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) started on disease-modifying antirheumatic mainly focused on the inflammatory pathogenic drugs (DMARDs) therapy early in the course of component of the disease. Significant progress in their disease. In order to achieve synergy without the induction of disease remission has been subsequent increase in toxicity, long-term remis- achieved by the use of powerful immunosuppres- sion and slowing of radiological damage, the sants and cytostatic drugs, such as corticosteroids, combination of several DMARDs with different methotrexate (MTX) and leflunomide, in the mechanisms of action was tested and found to be early stage of the disease [1,2]. Biologics have effective in some combinations [5,6]. For instance, recently been added for treatment-resistant dis- in two open-label randomized trials in patients ease, more specifically targeting components that with early RA, the combination of MTX, sulfa- play a role in the disease pathogenesis [3,4]. Unfor- salazine, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and pred- tunately, persistent disease remission can only be nisolone demonstrated greater clinical achieved as long as the drugs are administered, improvement and significantly less radiographic and only then can progression of joint damage be progression compared with a single DMARD prevented.