title: Anti-TNF therapeutics for the treatment of sarcoidosis.
abstract: Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease with an incidence of 1 to 40 per 100 000 persons per year. It predominantly affects people in the age of 20 to 40 years old. Disease course varies from mild self-limiting to chronic debilitating and life-threatening disease. Since the cause of sarcoidosis is unknown, curative therapy is not available. Immunosuppressive drugs may, however, control the symptoms of the disease. The hallmark of sarcoidosis is the formation of granulomas that are most commonly found in lungs and lymph nodes. As TNF plays an important role in both formation and maintenance of these granulomas, as well as in the immune response, anti-TNF biologicals such as infliximab and adalimumab are considered a last resort therapeutic option. Clinical effectiveness, however, varies considerably and data showing which patients would benefit most from this expensive therapy are scarce. This review summarizes current knowledge on anti-TNF therapeutics in sarcoidosis, and describes insights on prediction of response, outcome measures and antibody development.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Interstitial Lung Diseases, Department of Pulmonology, St Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Heleen A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Crommelin
authors.forename: Adriane D M
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Vorselaars
authors.forename: Coline H M
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: van Moorsel
authors.forename: Ingrid H E
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Korenromp
authors.forename: Vera H M
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Deneer
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grutters
mesh_terms: D000068879:Adalimumab; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D000069285:Infliximab; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D001688:Biological Products; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D000069285:Infliximab; D000068879:Adalimumab
keywords: TNF; adalimumab; apremilast; etanercept; immune-mediated inflammatory disease; infliximab; pentoxifylline; sarcoidosis; thalidomide