[Cytokines and their antagonists in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis]

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease involving synovium and periarticular tissues, often with several systemic manifestations. Proinflammatory cytokines play an important role in promoting inflammatory responses and articular tissue destruction. Presence of anti-inflammatory cytokines in rheumatoid synovium seems to be too low to effectively neutralize their action. In this review we describe the possibilities of the alternative treatment strategies modifying the balance of cytokine network, in the RA patients, towards anti-inflammatory state. Several trials, in which the action of proinflammatory cytokines was inhibited with their specific inhibitors or with anti-inflammatory cytokines, have shown significant clinical benefits.