title: Interleukins and interleukin receptors in rheumatoid arthritis: Research, diagnostics and clinical implications.
abstract: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease, resulting in a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder. It may affect many tissues and organs, but it primarily affects the flexible joints. In clinical practice patient care generates many questions about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. It is challenging for health care specialists to keep up to date with the medical literature. This review summarizes the pathogenesis, the polymorphisms of interleukin and interleukin genes and the standard available and possible future immunologic targets for RA treatment. The identification of disease-associated interleukin and interleukin receptor genes can provide precious insight into the genetic variations prior to disease onset in order to identify the pathways important for RA pathogenesis. The knowledge of the complex genetic background may prove useful for developing novel therapies and making personalized medicine based on the individual's genetics.
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Magyari
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dalma
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Varszegi
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Erzsebet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kovesdi
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sarlos
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Bernadett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farago
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Andras
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Javorhazy
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Katalin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sumegi
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Banfai
authors.affiliation: Lili Magyari, Erzsebet Kovesdi, Katalin Sumegi, Zsolt Banfai, Bela Melegh, Department of Medical Genetics, University of Pecs, 7624 Pecs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Bela
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Melegh
keywords: Immunologic targets; Interleukins; Polymorphisms; Rheumatoid arthritis; Therapy