Curare l'artrite bloccando il TNF

In recent years, patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis have gained new therapeutic options with the introduction of two different tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers: a chimeric antibody named infliximab and a soluble receptor known as etanercept. At present, however, only etanercept has been approved for curing juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Further experimental studies are in fact needed for infliximab. TNF inhibitors are given to patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who have not responded to second-line medications such as methotrexate. Nonetheless, before these novel agents can be used on a large scale, a few issues need to be addressed. First, it is necessary to find out if they can actually influence the natural progression of the illness, whether it is better to administer them alone or in combination with methotrexate, and at what stage of the disease they should be given to patients. Furthermore, at present there are no sufficient data for determining their tolerability and the potential risks of long-term therapies for children.