Effectiveness of Iguratimod Versus Placebo to Treat Early Rheumatoid Arthritis on MRI

Inclusion Criteria: * Subjects with a diagnosis of RA according to the diagnostic criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) (revised in 1987) * Rheumatoid Arthritis for 3 months to 2 years from the time of the initial diagnosis * Functional Class II-III * Subjects have active RA at the time of screening * Must have a negative Pregnancy test and use adequate method of contraception throughout the trial * Must have at least 4 tender joints and 4 swollen joints(involved in DAS28) and among these,at least one swollen Metacarpophalangeal joint is essential * Has a C-reactive protein ≥ 10 mg/L OR Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) ≥ 28 mm/hr * Written informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Preceding treatment with DMARDs, immunosuppressants (cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, azathioprine, etc.), biological agents or tripterygium within 12 weeks prior to study entry * Chest x-ray abnormalities, such as tuberculosis, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, etc * ALT \>1.5×ULN, AST \>1.5×ULN, Cr \>135umol/L or Cr \>1.5mg * WBC\<4×109/L，HGB\<85g/L，PLT\<100×109/L * Subjects with serious cardiovascular, renal, hematologic,endocrine diseases or malignant * Subjects with immunodeficiency, uncontrolled infection and active gastrointestinal disease * Pregnant, intend to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding * Subjects with other rheumatological diseases such as SLE, mixed connective tissue disease, scleroderma, polymyositis, etc * Subjects with inflammatory arthritis, such as gout, reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, seronegative spondyloarthropathy, Lyme disease * Subjects with intra-articular corticosteroid injections within 6 weeks prior to study entry * Allergic to any of the study drugs * History of alcoholism * Subjects with mental illness * Subjects receiving live vaccines recently * Subjects participating in other clinical study within 3 months prior to study entry