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Gene therapy suffers the negative perception of being unsafe, expensive and ultimately inapplicable in clinical practice. In this Viewpoint, the authors discuss the benefits of gene therapy being used to treat rheumatic disease, and the requirements that have to be satisfied in order for this to become a clinical reality.
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors have proven highly effective in improving the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, in inhibiting the progression of joint damage, and improving patients' quality of life. This Viewpoint will discuss the major concern relating to the actual use of TNF inhibitors in the clinic: their relatively high acquisition costs.
Progress in our understanding of fibromyalgia has identified aberrant central pain processing as a key abnormality in affected individuals. This Review describes a multimodal approach to treating this central pain syndrome, using neuroactive drugs that modulate sensory processing, and nonpharmacologic therapies such as exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy.
To achieve goodin vivofunction, engineered cartilage needs to exhibit biological and physical properties similar to those of native articular cartilage. Adult multipotent stem cells are considered the cell type of choice for cartilage tissue engineering; this emerging technology shows high promise for producing transplantable cartilage constructs to improve the function of degenerated joints.
The pathogenesis of the spondyloarthropathies is thought to relate to interactions between genes, including HLA-B27, bacteria, and innate and acquired immune responses. This Review provides an insight into the validity of the genes–bacteria–immune response paradigm, and explores how interactions between these factors might result in disease.
