Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease with local and systemic manifestation. It affects the small joints of the hands and feet, often symmetrically. It is more prevalent in females than in males. The course disease affects approximately 1% of the population and is more common in women. The course of disease is changeable with episodes of remitting and relapsing. It results in severe constant pain and stiffness of the joint. Progressive joint deterioration can result from the disease. Disability in movement can be caused by the disease and patients will be usually non-functional. This affects the patients’ life style both socially and financially. Moreover, it has a huge cost for health care system. Current concepts focus on early diagnosis of the disease in order to result in better clinical and radiographic remission and to inhibit the permanent destruction of joint. For achieving this goal, not only early diagnosis is required but also treatment of the disease must be considered and revised carefully. In the first section of this thesis, the anatomical science of normal joint is described. In the second section, the pathogenesis of the disease is discussed with more focus on new cytokines detected in development of rheumatoid arthritis. At the same clinical criteria for diagnosis of the disease is briefly reviewed. In third part of this literature review, conventional pharmacological agents (so- called disease modifying anti-rheumatoid drugs) are explained. Finally, in the last section, the novel biological agents are discussed that can be used potentially in management of rheumatoid arthritis.