New Drug Targets in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease where the synovial tissue is characterized by heavy infiltration of leukocytes. Chemokines and chemokine receptors play an important role in cell migration and positioning of leukocytes within the inflamed rheumatoid synovium. There is now much focus on the specific contribution and role of each chemokine and chemokine receptor in the chronic inflammatory process in the synovial tissue. Recent evidence indicates that interference with the chemokines released from the inflamed synovial cells or the chemokine receptors expressed on the cells infiltrating the synovial tissue may lead to discovery of new therapeutics for this disease.