Importance of interleukin-directed treatment for autoimmune diseases

Understanding the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases enables the identification of new targets for more precise pharmacotherapies. Ideally, these should not only be highly effective but also have a better safety profile. Interleukins (IL) are a group of inflammatory mediators that can influence the course of very different autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. Although many biologicals have been developed for rheumatoid arthritis, their application has extended to other indications where they are even more important, e.g. IL-1 antagonists in autoinflammatory syndromes. In the meantime, a growing spectrum of diseases are being treated with antibodies against IL or their receptors. Synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) are also IL-directed therapies in the broadest sense. For reasons of clarity, however, this article primarily addresses biologicals that directly inhibit IL or in the case of IL-2 an IL which is itself used for treatment.     «

Understanding the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases enables the identification of new targets for more precise pharmacotherapies. Ideally, these should not only be highly effective but also have a better safety profile. Interleukins (IL) are a group of inflammatory mediators that can influence the course of very different autoimmune and autoinflammatory diseases. Although many biologicals have been developed for rheumatoid arthritis, their application has extended to other indications where...     »