Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease with a high incidence and disability rate.Currently

RA is deemed as one of major diseases threatening human health and life

but with no effective drug.In clinic

common drugs for RA included nonsteroidal anti-inlammatory drugs

disease modifying antirheumatic drugs and corticosteroids clinically.However

they have severe adverse reactions

which bring great pains to patients.Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) feature multiple components and multiple-target effect

based on which TCM transdermal drug delivery preparations have advantages of low medicinal frequency

high compliance among patients

effective reduction of foods' impacts on drugs

convenience

safety and drug withdrawal at anytime.Transdermal drug delivery preparations have become a hotspot of studies because of their unique therapeutic effect and formulation superiority.In this dissertation

authors evaluated and discussed necessity

current situation and existing problems of TCM transdermal drug delivery preparations

and gave their own suggestions

such as strengthen the material base studies

ensure a good quality control of preparation

strengthen studies on the external excipients and the mechanism of external TCM preparations

strengthen the studies on the scientific use of TCM penetration enhancer

in expectation of providing a reference for research and development of TCM transdermal drug delivery system.