Hormonal control of rheumatoid inflammation

Abstract

As other contributors to this volume have discussed, the genetic basis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is multifactorial. One aim of this chapter is to propose that perhaps an additional, non-MHC genetic factor contributing to the pathogenesis of RA may reside in a defective response of the neuroendocrine system to inflammatory stimuli. This proposal is based on work carried out in patients with RA and on lessons learned from animal models of chronic inflammatory disease. This chapter will not consider the effect of sex hormones on the pathogenesis of RA because the data are often contradictory and have yet to crystallize into a coherent hypothesis with testable predictions.