Trapped in a vicious loop: Toll-like receptors sustain the spontaneous cytokine production by rheumatoid synovium
Rheumatology Research and Advanced Therapeutics, Department of Rheumatology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2011, 13:105 doi:10.1186/ar3287
See related research article by Nic an Ultaigh et al., http://arthritis-research.com/content/13/1/R33
Published: 30 March 2011Abstract
Synovial tissue of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) spontaneously produces several cytokines, of which a fundamental role in joint inflammation and destruction has been established. However, the factors sustaining this phenomenon remain poorly understood. In a recent report, blockade of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) was found to inhibit the spontaneous release of inflammatory cytokines by intact RA synovial explant cultures. Adding to the recent evidence implicating other TLRs (in particular, TLR4), this observation highlights the potential of TLRs as therapeutic targets to suppress the local production of multiple cytokines and to control the chronic inflammatory loop in RA.
