What are the dominant cytokines in early rheumatoid arthritis?
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Arthur G. Pratt; Amy E. Anderson; Laura A. Ridgley
- Source
- Current Opinion in Rheumatology
- Subject
- 0301 basic medicine
rheumatoid arthritis
Systemic disease
Arthritis
Disease
medicine.disease_cause
IMMUNOPATHOGENESIS AND TREATMENT OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES: Edited by Iain McInnes
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Rheumatology
medicine
Humans
Autoantibodies
030203 arthritis & rheumatology
Joint destruction
business.industry
interleukin
pathogenesis
Disease progression
chemokine
Early rheumatoid arthritis
Immune dysregulation
medicine.disease
030104 developmental biology
Chronic disease
Immunology
Chronic Disease
Disease Progression
Cytokines
business
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 1531-6963
1040-8711
Purpose of review Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease of evolving immune dysregulation that culminates in joint destruction and disability. The principle by which pro-inflammatory cytokines may be therapeutically targeted to abrogate disease is well established, but has yet to translate into reliable cures for patients. Emerging insights into cytokine-mediated pathobiology during rheumatoid arthritis development are reviewed, and their implications for future treatment strategies considered. Recent findings Accumulating data highlight cytokine perturbations before the clinical onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Some of these have now been linked to the arthritogenic activation of autoantibodies and associated pain and bone destruction in affected joints. These observations suggest cytokines may trigger the transition from systemic immunity to arthritis. Cytokine exposure could furthermore ‘prime’ synovial stromal cells to perpetuate a dominant pro-inflammatory environment. By facilitating cross-talk between infiltrating immune cells and even sustaining ectopic lymphoid structure development in some cases, cytokine interplay ultimately underpins the failure of arthritis to resolve. Summary Successful therapeutic stratification will depend upon an increasingly sophisticated appreciation of how dominant players amongst cytokine networks vary across time and anatomical space during incipient rheumatoid arthritis. The prize of sustained remission for all patients justifies the considerable effort required to achieve this understanding.