Rheumatol Int. 2010 Jul;30(9):1183-9 Authors: Xu S, Lu H, Lin J, Chen Z, Jiang D Arachidonic acid metabolites, such as leukotriene B4 (LTB4), are known to play an important role in pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Apart from leukocytes, RA synovial fibroblasts (RASF) produce a broad array of inflammatory mediators to recruit, retain and activate…

Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2008 Mar;8(1):62-8 Authors: D’Arena G, Taylor RP, Cascavilla N, Lindorfer MA Conventional treatment of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) comprises corticosteroids and splenectomy and/or other immunosuppressive drugs for refractory/relapsed patients. Monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) rituximab and alemtuzumab have gained widespread acceptance in the management of B-cell malignancies. More recently, they have…

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2008 Jun 13;370(4):599-602 Authors: Palmer CD, Mutch BE, Page TH, Horwood NJ, Foxwell BM Discordant cytokine production is characteristic of chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and anti-cytokine therapeutics are becoming routinely used to treat RA in the clinic. Fibroblasts from rheumatoid synovium have been shown to contribute to cytokine…

Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2008 Apr;10(2):128-33 Authors: Dhawan SS, Quyyumi AA Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease affecting approximately 1% of the adult general population. Cardiovascular disease is recognized as the leading cause of death in RA patients, accounting for nearly 40% of their mortality. Patients with RA are at a twofold increased…

Mod Rheumatol. 2008;18(4):366-78 Authors: Okuma-Yoshioka C, Seto H, Kadono Y, Hikita A, Oshima Y, Kurosawa H, Nakamura K, Tanaka S We previously reported that synovial fibroblast-like cells (SFs) can be differentiated into chondrocytes through activin receptor-like kinase (ALK) 3 activation. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect and signaling pathways of tumor…

Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2008 Apr;22(2):269-84 Authors: Jorgensen C, Djouad F, Bouffi C, Mrugala D, Noël D Although cartilage defects are common features of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, current treatments can rarely restore the full function of native cartilage. Recent studies have provided new perspectives for cartilage engineering using multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC).…

Eur J Pharmacol. 2008 Jun 24;588(1):93-8 Authors: Gierse J, Nickols M, Leahy K, Warner J, Zhang Y, Cortes-Burgos L, Carter J, Seibert K, Masferrer J A new class of selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors has been identified by high throughput screening. Structurally distinct from previously described selective COX-2 inhibitors, these benzopyrans contain a carboxylic acid function…