Recent advances in anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: focus on the soluble TNF receptor p75 fusion protein, etanercept.
Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is the dominant mediator of the cytokine cascade that causes inflammation and joint detruction in rheumatoid arthritis. A new class of agents under investigation, the biological TNF inhibitors, inhibit the activity of TNF. Recombinant human TNF receptor p75 Fc fusion protein (TNFR:Fc; etanercept) blocks the activity of the cytokine TNF. The preclinical and pivotal trials evaluating etanercept in rheumatoid arthritis are reviewed in this article.
Moreland
L W
LW
Arthritis Clinical Intervention Program, Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-7201, USA. larry.moreland@ccc.uab.edu