title: Clinical studies in patients with Castleman's disease, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis in Japan.
abstract: Interleukin (IL)-6 is a pleiotropic cytokine with a wide range of biological activities and regulates immunological reactions, inflammatory responses, and hematopoiesis. Overproduction of IL-6 has been shown to be pathologically involved in some inflammatory diseases, such as Castleman's disease, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Clinical studies have been conducted to investigate a role of IL-6 and the therapeutic potential of anti-IL-6 therapy for these diseases using humanized anti-IL-6 receptor antibody (tocilizumab; currently known as MRA). Overall, tocilizumab was well-tolerated, and improvements of signs and symptoms were observed, confirming the pathological role of IL-6 and suggesting that the blockade of IL-6 could become a new and important treatment option in these refractory diseases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immune Regulation, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University. notihiro@fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishimoto
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D005871:Castleman Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000276:immunology*; D007564:Japan; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6 / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D015850:Interleukin-6; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; C502936:tocilizumab