Intervention with immunomodulatory agents: monoclonal antibody therapy

Synergy between anti-CD4 and anti-tumor necrosis factor in the amelioration of established collagen-induced arthritis.

“…Anti-CD4 treatment caused some reduction in paw-swelling but had little effect on the histological outcome of arthritis even at a cumulative dose of 24 mg/kg of body weight. In human RA, anti-CD4 has been shown to provide clinical benefit to some patients (16), though many patients do not respond to treatment despite severe peripheral T-cell depletion (23,24). This suggests that, as in CIA, depletion of peripheral CD4+ T cells alone is insufficient to consistently modify ongoing disease.…”

HDAC Inhibition in Lupus Models

“…Over the last decade, great strides have been made in understanding the complex pathogenesis underlying LN, and our increased understanding of molecular immunology has led the way for the development of new immunomodulatory therapies (8)(9)(10). The use of specific immunomodulators, including monoclonal antibody therapy, has shown promising results, although these agents are still somewhat nonspecific and target groups of cells (6,11). To target lupus more effectively, it is imperative that we uncover the underlying mechanisms that trigger disease activity.…”

Translational Mini-Review Series on B Cell-Directed Therapies: B cell-directed therapy for autoimmune diseases

“…There has been a major research focus on T cells in autoimmune disease for many years and clinical trials of T cell targeted therapy have also been carried out in a number of different autoimmune diseases [1–3]. However, the roles of B cells in autoimmune diseases that were thought previously to be T cell‐mediated have been increasingly appreciated.…”