Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2004;13(5):339-43.
doi: 10.1191/0961203304lu1023oa.

Rationale for interleukin-6 blockade in systemic lupus erythematosus

E Tackey  1 , P E Lipsky, G G Illei
Affiliations
Review

Rationale for interleukin-6 blockade in systemic lupus erythematosus

E Tackey et al. Lupus. 2004.

Abstract

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine with a wide range of biological activities that plays an important role in immune regulation and inflammation. Among other actions, it induces terminal differentiation of B lymphocytes into antibody-forming cells and the differentiation of T cells into effector cells. IL-6 also has multiple potent proinflammatory effects. An association between IL-6 and lupus was demonstrated in murine models of SLE and blocking IL-6 improved lupus in all models tested. Data from several studies suggest that IL-6 plays a critical role in the B cell hyperactivity and immunopathology of human SLE, and may have a direct role in mediating tissue damage. Based on these data, we propose that blocking the effect of IL-6 in humans may improve lupus by interacting with the autoinflammatory process both systemically and locally.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Naka T, Nishimoto N, Kishimoto T. The paradigm of IL-6: from basic science to medicine. Arthritis Res. 2002;4(suppl 3):S233–S242. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kobayashi I, Matsuda T, Saito T, et al. Abnormal distribution of IL-6 receptor in aged MRL/lpr mice: elevated expression on B cells and absence on CD4+ cells. Int Immunol. 1992;4:1407–1412. - PubMed
    1. Suzuki H, Yasukawa K, Saito T, et al. Serum soluble interleukin-6 receptor in MRL/lpr mice is elevated with age and mediates the interleukin-6 signal. Eur J Immunol. 1993;23:1078–1082. - PubMed
    1. Tang B, Matsuda T, Akira S, et al. Age-associated increase in interleukin 6 in MRL/lpr mice. Int Immunol. 1991;3:273–278. - PubMed
    1. Alarcon-Riquelme ME, Moller G, Fernandez C. Age-dependent responsiveness to interleukin-6 in B lymphocytes from a systemic lupus erythematosusprone (NZB × NZW)F1 hybrid. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1992;62:264–269. - PubMed

MeSH terms