Albumin as a delivery carrier for rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease and considered to be one of the major public health problems worldwide. In the past decade numerous drug delivery systems have been developed to improve the treatment outcome of RA. A stable endogenous protein, albumin has been employed as a non-immunogenic delivery carrier and extensively researched in various disease therapies. To provide the prospective for future research, this review summarizes the application of albumin as drug or imaging agent carriers for RA and proposes potential future directions. There are three major types of albumin-based carrier systems for RA, including albumin drug conjugates, albumin particles and genetic infusion albumin. Their imaging or therapeutic effects have been proved in clinic or preclinical studies. © 2013 Ren K, et al.