Blocking cytokines
Hey you guys,
From last class I had the article called "Cytokines in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis" I know this was a very lengthy and dense article, but because of this it was very informative and unbiased the whole way through the article. Since this article is about the different cytokines, their roles in RA (rheumatoid arthritis), and ideas on which to block or what therapies to use, I wanted to know what each individual person thinks. The question I'm posing is, What cytokines or processes would you most concentrate on in order to prevent RA from becoming more severe? (what exact cytokines or process that is talked about in the article would u want to impair)
What I personally think is that studies and science needs to go toward stopping the making of Il-17. (interluekin-17) This cytokine is very important when it comes to RA. On page 431 the article says that when Il-17 is inhibited, joint inflammation and damage suppresses, and the vice versa is true. When IL-17 is over expressed it worsens inflammation and damage. Il-17 cells also give rise to Th-17 cells which are induced from IL-6 and Il-23. And those 2 cytokines only act to enhance the production of Il-17 so it is a never-ending story with Il-17.
So thats my take on the question, I just want to know what you guys personally would do.
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ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article IL-1ab Blockade Prevents Cartilage and Bone Destruction in Murine Type II Collagen-Induced Arthritis, Whereas TNF-a Blockade Only Ameliorates Joint Inflammation I feel that interluekin-1 alpha and beta and TNF-alpha are important cytokines to research on for understanding RA, even more so than IL-17. It is true that neutralizing IL-17 will help reduce joint inflammation, cartilage destruction, and bone erosion from this week’s article but that may be because when you block IL-17 you are also blocking the production of IL-1b and TNF-a which reduce joint inflammation, cartilage destruction, and bone erosion as well. So rather than going up stream, and potentially blocking off important immune responses needed for other parts of the body, I think it might be more important to find which cytokines/pathways are specifically responsible for inflammation, cartilage destruction, and bone erosion in RA.
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