AN INTEGRATED PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR INFLAMMATORY AND DEGENERATIVE RHEUMATIC DISEASES: IMMUNE, ENDOTHELIAL, GENETIC, AND STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS

Abstract

Inflammatory and degenerative rheumatic diseases constitute a complex group of disorders characterized by chronic immune activation, vascular dysfunction, progressive connective tissue remodeling, and heterogeneous clinical manifestations. Conditions such as ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis, osteoarthritis, allergic vasculitis, and systemic sclerosis differ in etiology and phenotype, yet share converging pathogenic mechanisms that govern disease initiation, progression, and organ involvement.