Despite advances in disease-modifying therapies, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) continues to impose a substantial clinical and socio-economic burden. Ethnobotanical studies have identified numerous medicinal plants for inflammatory disorders, yet only a few have progressed to systematic scientific evaluation or therapeutic development. A major limitation is the absence of a structured approach for prioritizing medicinal plants with the greatest translational potential. This commentary proposes a translational prioritization framework that integrates ethnobotanical evidence, phytochemical information, mechanistic plausibility, safety, computational approaches, and experimental validation to guide the selection of promising medicinal plants for RA. Rather than treating ethnobotanical knowledge as an end point, the proposed framework positions it as the starting point for evidence-based drug discovery. By linking indigenous knowledge with modern biomedical research, this approach provides a practical strategy for improving the efficiency and translational value of plant-based therapeutic development in rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis, Ethnobotany, Plant-derived therapeutics, Translational prioritization, Precision rheumatology, Drug discovery