Abstract
Salazosulfapyridine (SASP) and bucillamine (BUC) are low molecular weight chemical compounds approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for decades. Dose escalation should be applied for both drugs to minimize the treatment-emergent adverse events such as rash and gastrointestinal discomfort for SASP, and rash and proteinuria for BUC. SASP can be started before methotrexate (MTX) in non-severe patients with early RA, although the addition of SASP to MTX may not be successful. On the other hand, the efficacy of the combination therapy of BUC and MTX has been suggested in both remission induction before the introduction of biological agents and remission maintenance after discontinuation of biological agents.
