Premium
Interleukin‐6 as a Therapeutic Target in Candidate Inflammatory Diseases
Author(s) -
Nishimoto N
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1038/clpt.2009.313
Subject(s) - medicine , rheumatoid arthritis , immunology , arthritis , inflammation , cytokine , immune system , overproduction , multiple myeloma , disease , biology , biochemistry , enzyme
Interleukin (IL)‐6 is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates immune response, inflammation, and hematopoiesis. Although IL‐6 plays several important physiological roles, deregulated overproduction of IL‐6 causes various clinical symptoms and abnormalities in laboratory test results. Overproduction of IL‐6 has been shown to underlie a number of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic‐onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (soJIA), and Castleman's disease, as well as malignancies such as multiple myeloma and mesothelioma. Blocking of IL‐6 signaling may be therapeutic in diseases characterized by pathological IL‐6 overproduction. This review provides an overview of IL‐6 as a therapeutic target in candidate inflammatory diseases.