Juvenile spondyloarthropathies: the Chinese experience.
The data presented here show that in Chinese juvenile-onset AS patients, their clinical features were similar to those reported by Burgos-Vargas and other researchers looking at other ethnic groups. For most JSpA patients, its relation to HLA-B27, basic clinical expression, anatomic substrate, histopathologic nature of the lesion, and response to treatment are the same or similar to those of adult-onset SpA patients. Current treatments provide relief but do not alter the natural course of the disease. New treatments that target immune responses and cellular inflammatory processes, which play a part in the pathogenesis of SpA, are under investigation. TNF-alpha has been identified as a predominant proinflammatory cytokine in synovial tissue of patients who have SpA. Clinical, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings of studies of anti-TNF-alpha antibody therapy in adult SpA patients suggest the possibility of altering the progression of disease coincident with clinical improvement. These findings in adult SpA patients suggest that anti-TNF-alpha therapy might confer similar benefits to JSpA patients.
Huang
Feng
F
Department of Rheumatology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. fhuang1964@yahoo.com
Zhang
Jianglin
J
Zhu
Jian
J
Guo
Junhua
J
Yang
Chunhua
C
D044466:Asian People; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D025242:Spondylarthropathies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy