Figure 1

Triad of rheumatoid arthritis and a selection of markers reflecting its respective elements. The triad of rheumatoid arthritis comprises disease activity–joint damage–disability; a selection of markers that mainly reflect the respective elements of the triad are shown. Over time, the component of disability related to joint destruction will increase and thus disability becomes progressively less reversible; in contrast, with adequate therapy, the component of disability related to disease activity will always be reversible [6,7,98].