Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 17, Issue 29, 2011

Autoimmune diseases are a heterogeneous group of disorders and epidemiological studies demonstrate that their incidence is increasing worldwide. A complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors underlies their etiopathogenesis. It is certainly recognised that the pathogenesis of these disorders, their diagnosis and therapy is a ‘hot topic’ and one of the most intriguing subjects in medicine. Hopefull Read More

Autoimmune diseases are a heterogeneous group of disorders and epidemiological studies demonstrate that their incidence is increasing worldwide. It is known that a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors underlies their complex etiopathogenesis. In the light of the aforegoing the exact molecular key events were difficult to be explored; these represent the leading step to the prevention and treatme Read More

In humans, T-cell development takes place in the thymus, which contains an external cortical region and an inner medulla. The skeleton of the thymus consists of stromal cells and is filled with thymocytes in different stages of differentiation. Thymocytes undergo to a development process before becoming mature T lymphocytes ready for export to the peripheral lymphoid organs. Classically, T-cell development has been re Read More

Current corticosteroid regimens are effective in autoimmune hepatitis, but therapy can be complicated by side effects, disease progression, incomplete response, and relapse after drug withdrawal. The aims of this review are to describe the promising pharmacological, molecular and cellular interventions for autoimmune hepatitis and to stimulate further investigations that can refresh or replace current treatments. M Read More

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common autoimmune disease, is characterized by persistent synovitis and systemic inflammation. Genetic predisposition as well as autoantibodies and environmental factors, such as smoking, are associated with an increased risk of RA. Traditionally RA has been treated with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) but in the last 15 years or so the introduction of biological resp Read More

The paradigm that T cells are the prime effectors of autoimmune diseases has been recently challenged by growing evidence that B-lymphocytes play a role in the development, re-activation and persistence of autoimmune disorders. B-cells of different subsets may play different roles in autoimmune pathologies due to their ability to secrete antibodies, produce cytokines, present antigen and form ectopic germinal center Read More

Intravenous Immunoglobulins (IVIg) are administered both as replacement therapy for certain immunodeficiencies and as immunomodulatory therapy for some autoimmune diseases. While the treatment with IVIg is approved in only a few autoimmune diseases, the number of off-label indications is increasing. The varied mechanisms by which IVIg attains its beneficial effect are diverse. There is much evidence for the b Read More

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a complex pathophysiology and a multigenic background. Autoimmunity and genetic hallmarks couple to confer the disease, which is characterized by chronic plaques (85-90% of all cases) and/or psoriasis arthritis (PsA), and involve the peripheral and sacro-iliac joints, nails, and skeleton. Dissecting the ethiopathogenetic mechanisms of psoriasis and PsA is a major basic r Read More

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common autoimmune demyelinating disorder in Western countries and can lead to permanent disability. Over the past decades remarkable progress has been made in providing new therapeutic strategies to tackle the burden of the disease. Oral drugs and monoclonal antibodies are the main innovative approaches that have been tested in advanced stage clinical trials. Several new drugs ha Read More

The recruitment, trafficking, and in situ maintenance of specific subsets of activated lymphocytes constitute crucial steps for the initiation and perpetuation of chronic autoimmune inflammation. The fact that, after IFN-γ stimulation, thyrocytes secrete CXCR3- binding chemokines, which in turn recruits Th1 lymphocytes expressing CXCR3 and secreting IFN-γ, strongly supports the concept that the interferon-γ inducible chem Read More

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease most often associated with elevated and uncontrolled blood glucose levels. Therefore patient education and treatment compliance is often focused on disease maintenance through insulin treatment and blood glucose control. Unfortunately insulin therapy alone does not prevent the formation of diabetic complications. In order to find a real cure, the underlying pathology of the dise Read More

In type 1 diabetes, beta cells are attacked and destroyed by auto reactive T cells causing major impairment of blood glucose metabolism and, ultimately, the development of life-threatening complications. Currently, the treatment of this chronic disease is based on the use of endogenous insulin and no curative therapies are available. Treatment approaches in this respect need to be directed toward the primary causes of t Read More

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease, leading to pancreatic β-cell destruction and loss of glycaemic control. Administration of exogenous insulin to diabetic patients prevents life-threatening metabolic derangement, but may fail to prevent other longterm complications, such as kidney failure or diabetic retinopathy. Islet transplantation is a low-risk surgical procedure, affording improved glucose homeostasis p Read More