Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 13, Issue 6, 2013

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most frequent form of chronic polyarthritis, affecting 0.5-1% of adults worldwide. In recent years there have been important advances in the pathogenesis of RA, together with new diagnostic and therapeutic insights. Early diagnosis is essential in order to prevent joint damage and improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients with RA. New classification diagnostic criteria have been proposed Read More

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases. Genetic and epidemiologic studies point to a relevant role of adaptive T-cell response interactions with environmental factors such as smoking in the immunopathogenesis of the disease. These interactions result in a specific systemic autoantibody response that seems to contribute to the synovial inflammatory process. The reasons for specific localiza Read More

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects largely synovial joints. It has been postulated that activated autoreactive CD4 T cells play a key role in triggering and-or maintaining the chronic inflammatory process in RA. Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells that activate cognate clonal CD4 T cells in the lymph nodes. The activation process involves the formation of a molecula Read More

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory disease of the joints and is characterized by a complex genetic architecture. In recent years, a substantial advance has been performed in the identification of the genes that increase the risk to develop RA. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have allowed the characterization of more than 40 new susceptibility genes and the confirmation of a marke Read More

Effective management of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is being hampered by the difficulties for its early diagnosis and the heterogeneity of the disease. Although early intervention can result in disease remission, it requires early diagnosis, and current diagnostic tests are not sufficiently accurate or sensitive in the early stages of RA. Therefore, research efforts are increasingly focused on gaining knowledge about RA path Read More

Antibodies directed against citrullinated proteins and peptides (ACPAs) are the most specific serological markers available for diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ACPAs may be detected several years before symptoms of RA appear, and their presence at disease onset is a good predictor of the development of erosive joint lesions. RA patients can be classified into two major groups: those who have ACPAs and tho Read More

Biologic therapies have notably improved the treatment of RA, making disease remission a realistic goal. After more than ten years of experience, the safety issues associated with these drugs are well characterized and can be avoided with careful patient selection and tight clinical control. Although the different biologic drugs (anti-TNF agents, anti-IL-6, anti-B cells and anti-costimulation of T-cells) have apparently different m Read More

Tyrosine kinases (TK) are enzymes capable of transferring phosphate groups to tyrosine residues in cytoplasmic proteins or the intracellular domains of transmembrane receptors. TK play critical roles in diverse biological functions including cellular processes such as adhesion, motility, proliferation, cell cycle control, cell death, as well as biological functions at the whole-organism level such as growth and development, Read More