Abstract: Abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease. Joint deformity and dysfunction can occur in the late stage of the disease， which is seriously harmful to human health. Anti-inflammatory factors (AIC), as a protective factor, together with pro-inflammatory factors (PIC) play important roles in the pathogenesis and progression of RA. It is widely accepted by the majority of scholars that the decrease of AIC and the increase of PIC in RA can aggravate the systemic and local inflammatory reactions and accelerate the articular cartilage and subchondral bone destruction, resulting in further progress of RA. A new generation of biological therapy for RA targeting at AIC is in the ascendant. Therefore， it is important to understand the role of AIC in the pathogenesis of RA. From the perspective of the relationship between AIC and RA and the mechanism, this article reviews the research progress in this field, which provides new concepts for the diagnosis and treatment of RA.

Key words: arthritis, rheumatoid, interleukins, review, anti- inflammatory cytokines, milk fat globule- epidermal growth factor 8, second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase, interleukin-27, interleukin-35